LA telecom towers under threat as massive fire reaches top of Mount Wilson

The Eaton wildfire in the area of Los Angeles has reached the peak of Mount Wilson located in the San Gabriel Mountains which is home to communications equipment and the Mount Wilson Observatory. As of Thursday morning, 10,000 acres had been burned by the Eaton fire as multiple wildfires have raged across the region.

Local outlet NBC Los Angeles reported that at least 1,000 homes as well as businesses have been damaged or destroyed by the blaze east of Los Angeles in the areas of Pasadena and Altadena. There are no homes in the area on top of the mountain top, but the flames came up to the communication towers and observatory.

The outlet reported that a ring of fire retardant had been placed around the towers and buildings on top of the peak. As of Thursday, at least five people have died in the flames of the fire and a "number of significant injuries" was reported by the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The towers play a key role for telecommunications companies in the Pasadena, Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley, Southern San Fernando Valley and Orange County areas. If the signals on the towers go down, it would have a major impact on radio transmissions in the area.

Although the fire was able to reach the peak of the mountain, CBS News reported that officials claimed the fire "has been significantly stopped." Los Angeles Supervisor Kathryn Barger said, "The scale of the impact today is larger than anything that I have seen in my career. The loss of historic resources at the Eaton Canyon Nature Center, Farnsworth Park and Altadena Golf Course cannot be measured."

The fire in Eaton was reported on Tuesday at around 6 pm. Although it had only reached a little over 2,000 acres by Wednesday morning, but it has grown to at least 10,600 acres.