The Eaton Fire, burning near Los Angeles, is encroaching on Mount Wilson, which houses broadcast towers for major TV and radio stations in the area. The fire poses a significant risk to emergency communications as repeater stations on the mountain are vital for police and fire departments. While TV and radio stations may be forced off air if the fire reaches the towers, most viewers access content via cable, satellite, or streaming, which would remain unaffected.
One of the fires burning its way through Los Angeles is threatening to take a number of TV and radio stations off the air.
The Eaton Fire, which ravaged Altadena, is encroaching on Mt. Wilson, which has a number of broadcast towers at its peak. The L.A.-based NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, and PBS stations all have transmitters atop the mountain, as does KTLA and Univision’s KMEX. In addition, a slew of FM radio stations transmit from the top of Mt. Wilson, including stalwarts like KCBS 93.1 and KIIS 102.7.“This is very dangerous in terms of safety and emergency safety throughout much of southern California,” the anchor said as images of the fire took up the screen. “These are repeater towers.
Meanwhile, the Mt. Wilson Observatory has been evacuated, with only essential staff and firefighters on site. “As you may have seen on the news, the Eaton fire is approaching Mount Wilson,” the observatory posted on its Instagram page. “There are firefighters on the grounds but the power is out at the Observatory so communication is limited. We are monitoring the situation and will update here as we can. Thank you for your concern.
In the event that the fire does subsume the broadcast towers, the TV and radio stations would be off the broadcast airwaves until any auxiliary towers elsewhere could be brought online. That being said, relatively few consumers get their TV signal from a broadcast antenna, with most accessing the networks via cable, satellite, or streaming options, which would not be impacted.
Eaton Fire Mount Wilson Broadcast Towers Emergency Communications Los Angeles
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