Wildfire threatens powerful telescope

Crews used bulldozers and fire retardant around the Mount Graham International Observatory, which has two operating telescopes and the $120 million soon-to-be-completed Large Binocular Telescope.

Researchers from around the world use the observatory, which is an extension of the University of Arizona.

"The building's not going to burn, but the smoke and heat could do some real damage to the instruments inside," said Pruett Small, a fire official.

When fully operational in 2005, the Large Binocular Telescope will be the world's most technologically advanced optical telescope. It is expected to yield images nearly 10 times sharper than those from the Hubble Space Telescope.

The observatory encompasses 81/2 acres of pine forest on Mount Graham's 10,470-foot Emerald Peak and is surrounded by a 200-foot-wide clearing. It also has a sprinkler system that officials said would be turned on if flames came within a quarter-mile.

Only Arizona's summer rains will be able to put out the wildfires, officials said.

One of the fires was a lightning-sparked blaze that had grown to more than 6,200 acres by early Monday. It was burning less than a mile southeast of the $200 million-plus observatory.

A nearby blaze that had grown to more than 6,500 acres prompted the evacuation of the observatory and 85 cabins on the mountain Friday. The fire was about 3 miles northwest of the observatory.

No homes were immediately threatened by the fires, which are expected to join within the next few days.

"I can't hardly stand it to think there's a fire up there," said Verna Colvin, whose family owns a cabin in Turkey Flat. "It won't be the same if it burns up. It's like my life is going."

The fires were 5 percent contained. State officials issued a health advisory warning people about the smoke.

Elsewhere in Arizona, the threat posed to the city of Payson by an 84,300-acre wildfire eased after crews reinforced their fire lines near the forest community. The fire was reported to 10 percent contained.

In Alaska, an evacuation order remained in effect for 277 homes and businesses threatened by a blaze some 30 miles north of Fairbanks that had spread across 306,000 acres. The blaze began to die down somewhat Monday. (Full story)

"The winds are lighter and it's damp," fire information spokesman Bert Plante said. "We're keeping our fingers crossed."