Bobcat fire jumps north; firefighters battle at Mt. Wilson

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Blue Ridge Hot Shots crew members from Arizona work on a backfire operation north of Mt. Wilson on Angeles Crest Highway. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Blue Ridge Hot Shots crew members from Arizona join forces with firefighters from Northern and Southern California on a backfire operation north of Mt. Wilson on Angeles Crest Highway. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Smoke and ash filter the sunset looking west from Angeles Crest Highway as the Bobcat fire continues to burn. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Blue Ridge Hot Shots crew members from Arizona help on a backfire operation on Angeles Crest Highway. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Firefighters continue to battle the Bobcat fire north of Mt. Wilson along Angeles Crest Highway. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Blue Ridge Hot Shots crew members from Arizona work on a backfire operationon Angeles Crest Highway. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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The Bobcat fire continues to burn in the Angeles National Forest as seen from the Evergreen Cemetery in Los Angeles on Sept. 21. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Horses are spooked by the approaching Bobcat fire on 106th Street in Juniper Hills on Sept. 18. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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A resident flees as Bobcat fire approaches Cima Mesa Road in Juniper Hills. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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A Joshua tree burns as the Bobcat fire rages in Juniper Hills. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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A Super Scooper dives behind a house in Juniper Hills to make a water drop. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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The view from Big Pines Highway as the Bobcat fire continues to burn in the Angeles National Forest. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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A statue sits on top of a house that burned to the ground in Juniper Hills. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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A house on Cima Mesa Road in Juniper Hills burns Sept. 18 as the Bobcat fire continues to rage. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Mike Gregoryan is frustrated as he is asked to leave his home on Cruthers Creek as Bobcat fire closes in on structures. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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A smokey sunset as the Bobcat Fire continues to burn in the Angeles National Forest. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Bear Divide Hotshots cover a U.S. Forestry Department information center Sept. 19 in Wrightwood to protect it from the Bobcat fire. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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A man riding a tractor evacuates Valyermo as the Bobcat fire burns Sept. 18 in Angeles National Forest. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

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Castle Snider, 8, looks on as flames from a control burn are used to reduce fuel near homes in Monrovia as the Bobcat fire continues to burn in the Angeles National Forest. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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A statue is left charred Sept. 19 after the Bobcat fire roared through Juniper Hills. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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The LA County Fire Camp 9 hand crew rests on Big Pines Highway after working the north flank of the Bobcat fire near Mile High. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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LaVerne engine 761 arrives to offer defense as the Bobcat fire burns near homes in Monrovia. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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A fire engine drives into air thick with smoke along Juniper Hills Rd. as the Bobcat fire advances north into the Antelope Valley. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Flames crest a hill a few miles from Juniper Hills Rd. as the Bobcat fire advances north into the Antelope Valley. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles County firefighters standing on outlook as they monitor the Bobcat fire burning in a canyon near the Mt. Wilson Observatory in Angeles National Forest. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

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A helicopter fights the Bobcat fire burning close to Mt. Wilson Observatory. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

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After spending night at camp Pasadena, firefighters Christina Terrazas, left, and Jason Van Vlymen have their breakfast standing next to their fire truck. Hundreds of firefighters from different agencies fighting Bobcat Fire in San Gabriel mountains above Arcadia, Monrovia and Duarte camp overnight in Santa Fe Dam Recreation Park in Irwindale. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

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Roland Pagan surveys the remains of his home on Juniper Hills Drive. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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A plane makes a fire retardant drop in the Antelope Valley. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Road Runners hand crew from the Angeles National Forest walk single file as they head for breakfast at the Bobcat fire command post at the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Park in Irwindale. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

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Flames from a control burn are used to reduce fuel near homes in Monrovia as the Bobcat fire continues to burn in the Angeles National Forest. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Curious deer look on as firefighters watch the progress of the Bobcat fire as it continues to burn in the Angeles National Forest. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Firefighters look on from Sawpit Canyon as a controlled fire burns on a hillside overlooking the San Gabriel Valley. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Firefighters keep watch from an overlook on Mt. Wilson as the Bobcat fire burns in the Angeles National Forest near Pasadena. (Mario Tama / Getty Images)

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A Coulson 737 firefighting tanker jet drops fire retardant to slow Bobcat fire at the top of a major run up a mountainside in the Angeles National Forest. (David McNew / Getty Images)

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Los Angeles County firefighters, using only hand tools, keep flames from jumping a fire break in the Angeles National Forest north of Monrovia. (David McNew / Getty Images)

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Mormon Lake, Ariz. Hotshot Squad team member Jessy Twin looks over charred hillsides after clearing brush. Twin said his crew is on their sixth day of cutting line. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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A firefighting helicopter refills in a reservoir on Grand View Ave. as crews continue to battle the Bobcat fire. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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A line of California fire engines head to the flaming Santa Anita Canyon as the Bobcat fire burns near Arcadia. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Claudia Alcaino walks her dogs along Highland Oaks Drive as crews continue to battle the Bobcat fire in the nearby Angeles National Forest. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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A worker installs a street camera along North Azusa Avenue as smoke covers the sky from the Bobcat fire. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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The Bobcat fire continues to blaze in the mountains above Monrovia. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

By Hayley SmithStaff Writer

Sept. 16, 2020 Updated 8:17 PM PT

The Bobcat fire continued to be a threat on several fronts Tuesday, expanding to the northeast while all eyes remained on the southern foothill communities and the Mt. Wilson Observatory to the west.

The blaze in the Angeles National Forest has charred 44,393 acres and remained at 3% containment Wednesday morning, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The fire jumped Highway 2 on Tuesday evening and started a spot fire that has burned nearly 1,000 acres.

In response, new evacuation orders were issued for residences north of Angeles Crest North and between Clear Creek Station and Highway 39.

Los Angeles County Fire Capt. David Dantic said dry brush and steep terrain are the main reasons for the fire’s erratic behavior.

“The fire is finding places to go through ridges, down [wind channels] and drainages, and it’s getting to new areas,” Dantic said. “That’s why we’re constantly working on putting a perimeter around it. But it has been challenging. There are some places we can’t get to.”

On Tuesday, flames came dangerously close to Mt. Wilson Observatory, at one time reaching less than 500 feet from the famed complex. The Forest Service credited strategic hand- and bulldozer-dug lines with creating a “strong protection point” for the observatory and said fire crews had a “good night last night ... [but] not out of the woods yet.”

“There is a possibility that the fire could go back up north toward Mt. Wilson, because it’s just a little bit south of there and east,” he said Wednesday morning. “We have structure defense groups, and we’re trying to protect any property that we can.”

Tuesday evening, fire officials said “isolated patches of the fire ran up towards the compound, however, firefighters’ containment lines continue to hold.”

The observatory isn’t the only structure threatened by the blaze. In the forest’s Big Santa Anita Canyon, officials said they feared 80 historic cabins, along with the 1893-built Sturtevant Camp, may have been destroyed.

“We think we lost most of it,” said Deb Burgess, cabin owner and president of the Sturtevant Camp board.

The cabins are made of wood and rock, and are preserved as such under Forest Service rules, said Ben Fitzsimmons, president of Big Santa Anita Canyon Permittees Assn., who added that it is “unlikely that this 100-year-old community has survived unscathed.”

Forest Service officials could not confirm yet whether any structures had burned, further frustrating owners.

“Why can’t they go through?” Burgess asked of the fire service personnel. “They don’t have to do a complete inventory, but they could give us something, just something to hold onto.”

Residents in other parts of Los Angeles are also watching the fire closely — particularly as it pertains to air quality. The forecast for the day is sunny and smoky, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which has extended a smoke advisory for the 10th consecutive day.

Smoke from the West Coast’s wildfires has now reached as far as the East Coast and parts of Europe.

The Bobcat fire is one of more than two dozen fires currently burning in California and one of the 10 largest in terms of acres burned, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, which is providing air support for the blaze.

While more firefighters have been added to battle the wildfire, Cal Fire officials said size is not a primary factor in resource allocation.

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Brooks Hubbard with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers takes photos from the historic North Broadway Bridge over the Los Angeles River Tuesday morning as smoke and ash from the Bobcat fire cloak the area. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)

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Elijah Simpson practices shooting hoops against a backdrop of smokey skies from the Bobcat Fire at Angel’s Gate Park in the San Pedro on September 16, 2020. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

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A helicopter fights the Bobcat fire burning dangerously close to Mt. Wilson Observatory. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

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An aerial view of Dodger Stadium and the downtown Los Angeles skyline at sunset is obscured by smoke, ash and smog on Sept. 14. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

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Visitors check their photos at Griffith Observatory with a smoky view of the Hollywood sign behind them. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

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Two people get ready to surf as a hazy red sun sets off Hermosa Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Smoke from the Bobcat fire burning in the Angeles National Forest blankets the Southland. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)

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An airplane flies through smoky skies in downtown Los Angeles. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)

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A smoky haze envelopes Santa Monica Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Beachgoers walk along the shoreline in Laguna Beach beneath a hazy sky. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

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A crow on a cypress tree in Garden Grove is silhouetted by a sun obscured by ash from Southland wildfires. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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The sky is gray over the Santa Monica Pier as a family plays in the breakwater. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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A man walks his dog past the historic lifeguard tower in Laguna Beach as the sun is obscured by smoke from wildfires. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

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An upbeat message on the South Coast Cinemas marquee in Laguna Beach is dimmed by the smoky air. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

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Surfers near the Manhattan Beach Pier under a smoky sunset. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Gray skies over the Santa Monica Pier. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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A hazy sun is seen behind the Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Despite the unhealthful air quality, Fabian Ortez of Riverside enjoys an afternoon of fishing off the pier in Seal Beach. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

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The Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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A bicyclist travels along the 1st Street Bridge as smoke hovers east of downtown Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

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Haze from the Bobcat fire looms over Azusa as it burns in Angeles National Forest. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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The Los Angeles skyline is shrouded in smoke from the Bobcat fire as seen from the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Haze from the Bobcat fire looms over Kare Park in Irwindale. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“Resources usually go where life is at stake,” said Cal Fire spokeswoman Lynette Round. “Life is first, property is second, natural resources is third.”

More than 1,100 personnel are now assigned to the Bobcat fire — up from 652 a week ago — as the fire has crept closer to communities.

“We have personnel everywhere, from the north to the south,” Dantic said.

Evacuation orders for residents of Camp Williams in Azusa have been lifted, as have orders for parts of Arcadia and Sierra Madre north of Elkins Avenue and east of Santa Anita Avenue. Residents in those areas will be allowed to return beginning at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Evacuation warnings for Monrovia, Bradbury, Sierra Madre, Altadena, Duarte and Pasadena are still in effect.

The temporary closure of the Angeles National Forest, along with all national forests in California, has been extended until Sept. 21.