A massive 35,000-acre inferno is currently raging out of control in California.

The fire is threatening over 10,000 homes, 500 commercial properties and 2,000 other structures and rained ash on cars as far away as downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, spreading in all directions in hot, dry conditions.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urged those in the fire’s path to listen to authorities and get out.

Firefighters focused their attention on the blaze’s fast-moving northern front as more evacuations were ordered in the Los Angeles suburbs.

The fire is threatening a “major communications facility”, which has antennas for at least 22 TV stations, and 25 radio stations.

The following are the latest reports from Reuters, LA Times, and LA Daily News:

REUTERS: LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. – A wildfire in the heavily populated Los Angeles foothills threatened 10,000 homes on Sunday, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger warned residents to heed evacuation orders for the “out of control” and “very dangerous” blaze.

The heat-driven fire nearly doubled in size overnight and has now burned 35,000 acres of thick, bone-dry brush in the mountains above five towns, a 12-mile stretch from La Crescenta to La Canada Flintridge, the California Fire Department said.

Authorities have ordered residents to evacuate about 2,000 homes threatened by the fire about 15 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

“These fires are still totally out of control,” Schwarzenegger told reporters at the firefighters’ command post in Lake View Terrace, California. “This is a huge and is a very dangerous fire. The fire is moving very close to homes and to structures… this is why it’s important to pay close attention to the evacuation.”

Three remote homes have been destroyed so far and some 10,000 others and 2,500 other buildings are in danger, as is Mount Wilson, the nexus for key telecommunications facilities.

“That site is the nerve center for most of communication in the Los Angeles area,” Station Fire Commander Mike Dietrich said. “It is not out of danger as we speak.”

LA TIMES: The fire burning in Angeles National Forest is approaching the historic solar observatory and television transmission towers atop Mt. Wilson, according to Los Angeles County fire officials.

The communications towers house transmitters for every major television station in Los Angeles.

“We expect it to get there in the next two to four hours,” said county fire Capt. Mark Savage.

Crews were clearing brush around the structures, but fire officials were not sure if they could leave personnel on the mountain to fight the flames because of the danger and limited escape routes. The fire is less than two miles away.

“It’s a serious situation,” said Bob Shindelar, operations branch director of California Incident Management Team 5. “Is the observatory going to make it? We’re doing everything in our power. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it is impacted by fire today or tomorrow.”

Two TV stations said tonight that their transmitters are threatened by the Station fire, which is burning near the communications center atop Mt. Wilson.

KCBS-TV Channel 2 and KABC-TV Channel 7 said that viewers with cable and satellite TV will still be able get the signal if the transmitters are damaged.  Those without cable or satellite might lose their signal.

“If you receive ABC7 by off-air antenna, you could lose our ABC7 signal,” KABC said in a e-mail bulletin. Most TV stations and many radio stations have transmitters on Mt. Wilson, as do some cellphone carriers.

LA DAILY NEWS: MOUNT WILSON – Firefighters will attempt to keep a strike force of fire engines on Mount Wilson, where critical communications facilities are in jeopardy of being overrun, a fire official said.

“Our original plan was to pull all firefighters off of it now,” said Mark Savage of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. “Right now, a strike team of engines is seeing if they can find a safe place to shelter up there. We are concerned that it will be overrun and we think it will burn, but we are not sure if the communication facilities will be overrun.”

By late afternoon, a huge plume of smoke rose from the western side of the peak, and the fire was creating winds pushing it to the east up the peak.

“It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when,” Savage said earlier.
Dozens of TV technicians are normally are stationed at Mount Wilson to keep 22 Los Angeles TV stations operating, along with about 25 fm radio stations and vital police and fire radio dispatch equipment functioning.

“Everybody is off the mountain — there was one last caretaker, but they took him off,” said fire info officer Larry Marinas.

Fire officials were huddling at the command post in Lakeview Terrace, and an update on the blaze was expected around 7:30 p.m.

Most electronic operations on the mountain can be run by remote control, but power and communication lines are vulnerable.

Most satellite and cable companies have direct feeds from major TV stations to bypass a failure on Mount Wilson, but over the air TV and FM signals could be lost, along with hundreds of public safety radio repeaters that amplify signals from Tijuana to Santa Barbara.

(YWN – 106 / HPO Staff)