Wildfires Rage In LA County

Gov. Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles County as wildfires have consumed more than 20,000 acres. Some residents near the affected areas may soon lose contact with the outside world.

Beyond the thousands of residential homes threatened, the fires could damage a vital television, radio and communications center and observatory on Mount Wilson. Twenty-two television stations and numerous cell phone providers have transmitters at the center, U.S. Forest Service Capt. Mike Dietrich told the AP. ABC News' local affiliate KABC is among those whose antennas are threatened. "If you receive ABC7 by off-air antenna, you could lose our ABC7 signal," the station said in an e-mail bulletin, the Los Angeles Times reported. "It's not a matter of if it impacts Mount Wilson, it's a matter of when," L.A. County Fire Capt. Mike Savage told KABC Sunday.