Things are happening very quickly now, so we’ve decided to create this top-of-page section to keep abreast of new information.  We’re relying on brodcast and newssite reports, first-hand reports from readers, the scanner, and Twitter.  If you have any other sources of info, let us know and we’ll use ’em!

Inciweb Station Fire website (not updated frequently): http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1856/

UPDATE 11:15: Chaney Trail: According to the Chaney Trail neighborhood newsgroup, firetrucks from locales as exotic as Napa and Calistoga as well as Los Angeles and the Forest Service have just headed up the trail. BTW, if you’re in a fire-adjacent area, you may want to run your sprinklers to keep the area moist.

Meadows: Moved this note from Dennis Bridwell from the comments:

I want to update you on the latest regarding evacuations in the Meadows. I understand that the sheriff’s station told you that there were no voluntary evacuations in the Meadows, that is not correct. Two residence at the top of Risinghill were asked to evacuate last night. I drove up there myself and spoke with them.

This afternoon a Sheriff’s Deputy Sergeant with the LaCrescenta station came to my house and discussed with me their plan for this evening. One part of the plan was to ask residents to evacuate if they felt they needed to. Obviously they do not want to scare anyone, but living on Risinghill myself I can tell you that the fire is coming at us like a bat out of hell. The sheriff’s are patrolling the area in the Meadows and one car is stationed at Lincoln and Canyon Crest in order to make sure that those who are looking for trouble do not make it up the hill, nor those who just want to get a closer look at the fire on the crest. My family are one house of about half of our street that are sticking around.

For your information several homes and cars have been broken into over the past two days. We have been in touch with the majority of our neighbors updating them on information as we get and helping them get packed, or just reassuring them that we will be alright.

I just want you to understand that this is a very serious situation but we have faith in our fire department to keep us up dated and safe. My wife and I will be here until my property starts to burn if that happens, so if you really want to know what is going on up here let me know. Thanks for getting the word out as it comes to you.
Dennis Bridwell
Vice-Chairman
Altadena Town Council

UPDATE 9:45: Moved this up from the comments:

9:40pm Update: We live at Poppyfields/Santa Anita. Just went up to Alta Loma & Marengo. Lots of fire personnel up there but one of them told me ‘we’re just investigating’ – they don’t expect it to come closer down the hill overnight.
Winds have died down. Fire is “stable”. So no evacuations probably below/ south of Loma Alta at this point.
Jeanne & Lynn

UPDATE 8:30 PM: JPL closed: via reader Andrew Bingham, who passed us an email from Randy J. Aden, Manager, Office of Protective Services at Jet Propulsion Laboratory:

The fire does not at present pose a threat to JPL but as a precautionary measure, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Oak Grove site has been closed.  JPL will remain closed throughout the weekend except for essential personnel.  Non-essential personnel will not be allowed on lab.  Facilities at the nearby Woodbury complex, buildings 600, 601, 602 and 605 will remain open.
 

Those wishing to learn the status of the Laboratory should call (800)303-4575 or (818) 354-8601 where State of the Lab updates will be posted. Updates will also be delivered to JPL personnel via JPL email; through the State of the Lab call in numbers; the Emergency Communication System, and postings on the jpl home page at jpl.nasa.gov.

Also, just checked with the Altadena Sheriff’s station about a rumor of evacuation:  nobody is being told to evacuate (even voluntarily) at this time.  However, people in the neighborhoods on the edge of the fire are being told to be ready to move, and if they’re really uncomfortable, to just go ahead and find another place to stay. At this point (8:40 PM) nobody is being ordered to evacuate, either voluntarily or forcibly.

UPDATE 7 PM: Meadows Firesafe Council has sent out the following email:

With the fire has come an increase in curious persons and cars here in The Meadows creating safety concerns. In addition, a Canyon Crest neighbor’s car tires were slashed last night.Altadena Sheriffs will increase their presence in The Meadows this evening including a watch at Lincoln and Canyon Crest to help identify residents as legitimately having access to The Meadows.
Please be sure to have you I.D. with you should you need it. Also, if you see suspicious activity, please do not hesitate to contact the Altadena Sherriff at 626-798-1131.
Thanks,

The Meadows FireSafe Council

And for fellow scanner geeks, one of our readers says that Station fire air-to-air freq is 169.2875.  Might be over with for the night, but should prove exciting tomorrow as the choppers and planes rev up.

Also, as we suspected, any danger from the Station fire to Mt. Wilson is probably just alarmism.  Greg Sweet has actually mapped it out:

Of course, this is just eye-balling it from the ground here, but I have attached a map of the most likely path of the fire to Mt. Wilson. Being familiar with the terrain, I would say that the fire is certainly in Bear Canyon, but it would have to make its way up to Markham Saddle, then across upper Eaton Canyon to get to Mt. Wilson. Burn area in red (?) and likely path in yellow. Point of fact: I am a hiker, mountain history buff and donkey packer, but I am not a firefighter; this just a guess. By the way, the last time that area burned was the 1954 Woodwardia fire that took out Will Thrall’s cabin, so there is a lot of fuel in Bear Canyon.

UPDATE 6 PM: Susan Goldman relays a message from the Pasadena Humane Society:

We have been helping to evacuate animals (including a bob cat and an alpaca!) and we will take care of the pets of fire evacuees for free, for as long as they need to stay. I hope you can help by making a donation today.

UPDATE 5 PM: Calfire twitters:

STATION FIRE is currently making runs towards Mount Wilson, which is a major communications facility servicing all of Southern California.