On 18 January 2003 , the devastating Canberra firestorm hit Mount Stromlo ( which was surrounded by a plantation pine forest ) , destroying five telescopes , workshops , seven homes , and the heritage-listed administration building . The only telescope to escape the fires was the 1886 15-centimetre Farnham telescope . Relics from the fire are preserved in the collection of the National Museum of Australia . They include a melted telescope mirror and a piece of melted optical glass ( flint ) . The latter has pieces of charcoal and wire fused into it from the fierce heat of the fire
Canberra firestorm
2003 Canberra bushfires
Mount Stromlo Observatory