Here is a view from afar...that highest peak in the background, buttoo far to see the observatory. This is from Crawford Trail, from Pierce.
Posted on 02/10/2003 2:03:07 PM PST by NewHampshireDuo
A fire on the summit of Mount Washington yesterday knocked out all electricity on the mountain, hindering emergency communications in the North Country and forcing the first evacuation of the Mount Washington Observatory since it opened in 1932.
Jeff DeRosa, an intern at the observatory, said he discovered the fire at about 3 p.m. while checking the generator room. DeRosa said he was trying to figure out the source of the smoke when he walked outside and saw flames were shooting from the building, which houses two generators.
DeRosa said he and another man tried putting out the fire using extinguishers, but after going through four or five of them, they realized the fire was beyond their reach.
“The whole place was glowing,” he said.
No one was injured in the blaze, and the cause of the fire was not known last night. Officials said fire crews are unable to access the top of the 6,288 foot mountain.
The observatory, housed in the Sherman Adams State Park Building, is about 500 feet from the generators and was not in danger of burning last night, according to the institution’s executive director, John Hammer.
And while the four-person observatory crew could have survived a night or two without heat and electricity, Hammer said, severe weather forecasts for the next week prompted last night’s evacuation while the Mount Washington Auto Road could still be navigated.
“It’s possible we could have left some people up there, but we may not have been able to get them off for five or six days, by which time they’d be popsicles,” he said. “It’s literally the worst weather on Earth, its not just the catch phrase.”
A crew of state officials and Mount Washington Observatory staff on Monday made an eight-mile snow tractor trek to the summit to evaluate damage to generators from a fire.
The generator building and a smaller backup building “have both been destroyed,” said Scott Henley, observatory spokesman.
Members of the evacuated crew included observers Christin Perruzzi and Derek Brown, DeRosa and volunteer Andy Kohrmann. The observatory cat, Nin, was also taken from the summit.
“This is the first time that there really hasn’t been a human being on the summit of Mount Washington for over 70 years,” Hammer said.
Joe Gilheeney, a maintenance worker for the Mount Washington Auto Road, was the driver of the snow tractor used to take the crew down the eight-mile road.
“The summit was wild, it was glowing red. The whole summit was glowing,” said Gilheeney.
He said visibility was poor going up the summit, and worse coming down. It took Gilheeney a little more than two hours to descend the summit because of wind blowing so hard — up to 70 mph — he had to stop the CAT and wait for the winds to subside.
Once down, observatory crew members unloaded 20 spent fire extinguishers from the tractor, and described their view of the summit as “glowing red through the observatory windows.”
Besides providing electricity to the year-round meteorology center, the 60-year-old generators operated by the state Department of Resources and Economic Development, supplied power to transmitters belonging to dozens of federal and private agencies. They include New Hampshire State Police, the Office of Emergency Management, the Department of Transportation, and DRED, as well as two commercial radio stations, according to Ed Brouder, chairman of New Hampshire State Emergency Communications Committee.
Don Bliss, director of the state Office of Emergency Management, said backup transmitters were used to avoid a severe halt in public safety communications last night.
“It may not be complete coverage in all areas, but it’s not to the point of creating a problem that can’t be worked around,” he said. “It’s not ended all communications in the North Country.”
But Brouder said he was concerned the two radio stations — WPKQ in Conway and WHOM in Portland, Maine — were off the air because they notify the public of emergencies.
“The Northern New Hampshire portion of the emergency alert system is now off line. This is the thing that would alert you of natural disasters or weather related emergencies,” he said.
Plans are already under way to bring a temporary generator to the summit if a third generator in an adjacent building was destroyed.
“At the time they left, the fire was still severe enough that they couldn’t get close enough to assess the damage, and they also couldn’t get close enough to assess damage to adjacent buildings,” Hammer said.
And while the summit is vacant for the first time in its history, Hammer said observatory workers will still travel the top of the state’s tallest mountain to take daily readings until power can be restored.
“Even though we can’t occupy the summit continuously, we can continue our unbroken string of weather observations and data recording,” he said.
Summer recreation at Mount Washington State Park will not be affected either, Hammer said.
The last major fire on the Mount Washington Summit was in 1908, an observatory worker said.
Highest wind speeds on Mount Washington: All wind records in the United States, except those involving tornados, have been set on Mount Washington:
Peak gust: 103.6 meters per second (231 miles per hour), April 12,1934.
Highest 5-minute average: 84.2 m/s (188 mph), April 12, 1934.
Highest 24-hour average 57.2 m/s (128 mph), April 11-12, 1934.
Highest monthly average: 31.1 m/s (70 mph), February 1939.
Highest annual average 15.6 m/s (35 mph), 1934 and 1983.
The National Weather Service reported a wind gust of 236 miles per hour on Guam on Dec. 17, 1997. That is the highest non-tornado wind speed yet recorded.
Here is a view from afar...that highest peak in the background, buttoo far to see the observatory. This is from Crawford Trail, from Pierce.
Here is a view from afar...that highest peak in the background, button far to see the observatory. This is from Crawford Trail, from Pierce.
103.6 meters per second (231 miles per hour), April 12,1934.
84.2 m/s (188 mph), April 12, 1934.
57.2 m/s (128 mph), April 11-12, 1934.
31.1 m/s (70 mph), February 1939.
15.6 m/s (35 mph), 1934 and 1983.
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