CARA O'CONNOR/Arizona Summer Wildcat UA alumnus Dick Browning shows his neighbor Jaimie Turner photographs of his property in Summerhaven. His cabin is one of 133 structures that survived the wildfire on Mt. Lemmon.

Flames flicker just short of some properties, but the fight isn't over

Dick Browning was overjoyed at the sight of his still-standing cabin posted among photos at yesterday's open house meeting for Mount Lemmon residents and business owners at Sabino High School.

The UA alumnus' family getaway was one of 133 cabins in the Summerhaven area that survived the Aspen Fire.

"I can't believe how lucky I am," said Browning, 58. Nearly all of the residences surrounding his cabin were destroyed, he said.

Browning and his family have cherished their time at the cabin since they purchased it 12 years ago.

"It is our place to relax and escape," he said. "We always keep the clothes there. It's like a second home."

Browning has frequented Mount Lemmon since he arrived in Tucson in 1957. He spent time there during his years at the UA in the 1960s and afterward, when he had his own family, he brought his children to see the mountain.

When Browning bought the family cabin, it was part a land exchange agreement with the U.S. Forest Service. A group of homebuyers bought 10 parcels of land across Arizona for $2.5 million. The group then exchanged the parcels for land on Mount Lemmon. Before the fire, 92 cabins stood on the land.

The cabin-owners who were part of the land exchange are fortunate to own their land, Browning said. Ownership means that they will be able to rebuild. But many of the cabin-owners on Mount Lemmon are "permitees," meaning that they lease their land from the Forest Service.

The Forest Service may prohibit "permitees" from rebuilding destroyed cabins on the leased land.

But Browning plans to let his less fortunate neighbors use his family's cabin.

"I'll let people stay there while they are rebuilding," he said. But he also looks forward to the time that he will be spending there.

After nearly three decades teaching high school Browning retired in May.

"(The cabin) was my place to retire," he said. "We were actually on our way up there for a week when this happened."

But Browning is still a little bit anxious about what the future holds for his family's sanctuary. The fire is not extinguished yet and may still cause a lot of destruction, he said.

For the time being, Browning will hand his keys over to firefighters so that they can clear out the fridges and freezers in his cabin to keep dangerous contaminants out of the home.

However, as soon as residents are allowed on the mountain Browning will head up to assess the state of the mountain and fix up what he called his "lucky" mountain retreat.

MELISSA HALTERMAN/Arizona Summer Wildcat KUAT Senior Instructional Specialist Carol Niehoff, seated at right, and Mt. Lemmon resident Carol Mac sort photos at the Sheraton El Conquistador of property damaged in the fire.

On the edge of the inferno

While hundreds of homes were destroyed in the Aspen Fire late last week, another structure on the mountain also lay in harm's way.

On Sunday morning, the flames raged within 100 yards of the telescopes at the Steward Observatory atop Mount Lemmon. Over a hundred Forest Service firefighters and some brave UA employees battled the surging flames, and their efforts protected the site at least for the day.

The control lines they had prepared stopped the fire at the observatory's doorstep, keeping the UA equipment and priceless data out of harms way.

"It was almost textbook," said Steward Observatory Site Manager Jim Grantham, who is the only UA employee still stationed inside the observatory. "It burned just like we hoped it would."

For now, the Steward Observatory is safe, according to fire information officers, although there were some intense moments over the weekend.

"One spot fire actually jumped inside the compound," said Steward Observatory Operations Manager Robert Peterson, who was impressed by the pace with which firefighters quickly put it out.

Radio Ridge, an area just a few hundred yards from the UA observatory wasn't as lucky as the Mount Lemmon Observatory. The fire in this area damaged all the radio towers, a ski lift and the physics department's Cosmic Ray Lab.

"Fire blew right threw (Radio Ridge). The radio tower is now leaning. The top of the chairlift is essentially destroyed, and Cosmic Ray Lab sustained some external fire damage," said Grantham, who sent staff up the ridge yesterday today to access damage to those structures.

The fire burned though Radio Ridge late Saturday night when winds shifted and flames jumped control lines east of the observatory. Realizing they couldn't safely defend the observatory from a short Eastern front, Forest Service firefighters dug fire lines around the Steward perimeter.

"Preparation saved the observatory from fire damage," Peterson said.

On Saturday evening four UA employees traveled to both Steward observatory sites, one on Mount Lemmon and one on Mount Bigelow to put up steel plates to defend the telescopes from high temperatures. They also removed all mobile equipment that the fire could damage.

By thinning brush and raking pine needles, the UA employees helped firefighters dig the control lines that proved critical in the observatory's defense.

Observatory staff members also utilized one-million-gallon water tanks and large pumps to aid firefighters.

"We have 5,000 and 10,000 gallon dip-tanks that Forest Service helicopters used to fight fire in the immediate area, as well as to protect threatened homes in Summerhaven," Grandthum said.

We are not out of the woods yet, literally - Robert Peterson, Stewart Observatory Operations Manager

Spot fires on Mount Bigelow still threaten Steward telescopes in the area, as the western edge of the Aspen Fire flanks fire lines and heads for more homes.

"We are not out of the woods yet, literally," said Peterson echoing fire officials warning that who insist everything in the immediate area is still in danger.

Waiting in the Dark

Television and radio towers for UA-based KUAT have been relying on back-up generators for power since the Aspen Fire cut off all electricity to the area on Thursday.

As of yesterday, the fires had not damaged the towers, located about 20 miles southeast of Summerhaven on Mount Bigelow. Fire information officer Jim Clawson said that there is no immediate threat to the towers on Mount Bigelow, adding that yesterday was the best day yet for the location because winds moved fires in the opposite direction.

How to help: ·Red Cross (monetary donations) Mail: 4601 E. Broadway Tucson, Ariz. 85711 Phone: 318-6740 Internet: www.tucson-redcross.org ·United Way/Bank of America (monetary donations) Accepting funds at all bank of America locations (account number 0046-7176-9352) ·Mount Lemmon Relief and Recovery (money, water, food, clothes) 3222 N. Cottontail Circle Tucson, Ariz. 85749 ·Naughton's Plumbing, Heating and Cooling (food, water, clothes) 6062 E. Speedway Blvd. 4226 S. Sixth Ave. 1140 W. Prince Road 8190 E. 22nd St. ·Jackson Hewitt Tax Service (water, food, clothes) 4518 E. Broadway Blvd.

But KUAT General Manager Jack Parris is still nervous.

"If the wind should change then we could come into some kind of danger," he said.

Representatives of Trico Electric, the power provider for all of Mount Lemmon, also fear that Mount Bigelow is not in the clear yet.

"At the last briefing, Mount Bigelow was not in danger, but that could change," said Barbara Ziemann, Trico communications and special programs director.

When the fires are extinguished, Trico will restore power to the towers on Mount Bigelow using a back-up generator on the Mount Lemmon control road. Power from the main lines will take weeks to restore.

"Until the fire incident is over, no rebuilding is going to take place," Ziemann said.

The Aspen Fire has already destroyed more than $3 million worth of Trico power lines, and may destroy more. Fire crews have focused their efforts to preserve the west line, which is the main power supply to the whole mountain, Ziemann said.

In the mean time, KUAT will be able to operate for the about 15 days with its emergency generator power. A diesel fuel truck refueled the generator on Sunday, Parris said.

Other Tucson television and radio stations, including KVOA channel 4 and KOLD channel 13, are operating on back-up generators as well.

"All the stations are in the same position," Parris said.

Not over yet

As of Tuesday night, the Aspen Fire had burnt 20,350 acres and was 15 percent contained. While some are predicting that the fire could travel north toward the towns of Oracle and Catalina, neither community has been evacuated. Over 900 firefighters are battling the fire, which has cost Arizona over $4 million according to Larry Humphrey, incident commander on the fire.