[AZ-Observing] Tucson telescope status
- From: Brian Skiff <Brian.Skiff@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 16:50:59 -0700 (MST)
More in re the Catalina telescopes from Roy Tucker.
\Brian
===============================================================================
To: mpml <mpml@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
From: RA Kowalski <bitnik@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 19:43:23 -0400
Subject: {MPML} [Fwd: Aspen fire]
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Aspen fire
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 14:43:56 -0700
From: "Roy Tucker" <tucker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bitnik@xxxxxxxxxx>
June 26, 0700
Mt. Lemmon site: Yesterday was the first day in many without red flag
warnings. There is unburned fuel around the site and in the north and
west chutes, a re-burn is possible if the wind picks up. There are type
I and type II crews working the site along with 3 engines. So far we
have used 300,000 gal. of water. A major concern today is protecting the
above ground Trico power line that runs down the west side of Mt.
Lemmon. Mt. Bigelow site: Good progress was made on the fire line
protecting Palisades and Mt. Bigelow.
We are not out of the fire but it looks better every day. We hope to get
the full mountain crew up soon. There is a lot of cleaning to do. When
you have 120 house guests for a week things get a bit untidy. The major
clean up will be getting the dust and dirt from the buildings that was
generated from the helicopters, every time a Sikorsky Sky Crane came in
it was like being in a sand storm. There is also ash and smoke. We will
inspect and clean the telescopes and optics and reinstall the computers
at the 61". We hope to get back in operation within a week or two. The
major problem will be not having commercial power. If the main Trico
line burns it will be weeks before power is restored. We should be able
to operate on our generators and hope to salvage some of the scheduled
July observing.
Some comments: The survival of the Mt. Lemmon facility (not yet
guaranteed but looking good) was no accident. What our crew did to
prepared the site before the fire was a major factor. A number of the
crew have had wild land fire training with the Forest Service and
structure fire training with the Mt. Lemmon Fire Dept. and Tucson Fire
Academy. We have reviewed different fire scenarios and have a fire plan
in place. The 800,000 gal. water system
- spring wells, pumps, etc. and new fire hose - enough to cover the
entire site and supply type I, III and VI fire engines has been
maintained in good condition. The buildings have had the pine needles
cleared, most of the buildings are either metal or block. Last month we
contracted with State Lands for a DOC crew (20 people) to do extensive
tree thinning to the south side of the site. Without this preparation
the Forest Service may not have committed the ground resources needed to
defend the site. The most dangerous place on a mountain is being above a
fire with only one escape route - and that route did burn during the fire.
The site was in direct assault for 5 days. Without this effort the fire
would have burned through the facility.
--
Richard Kowalski
Quail Hollow Observatory Minor Planet Mailing List
http://www.bitnik.com/QHO http://www.bitnik.com/mp
761 Zephyrhills 7392 Kowalski
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Benjamin Franklin
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