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Universal City Studios backlot on fire

June 1st, 2008 by Scott Marks

A ghastly fire worthy of Irwin Allen broke out on the backlot of Universal City today, destroying several sound stages and valuable Hollywood memorabilia. Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Daryl Jacobs said the King Kong exhibit was torched and that at least one building had burned and as many as three blocks of movie facades were destroyed. Though the fire was contained, it was still raging. “When there’s a fire of this magnitude, we bring a lot of personnel,” said Jacobs. Depending on your source for news, there are somewhere between 100 and 300 firefighters battling the enormous blaze which started on a sound stage just before dawn. The fire sent a giant column of black smoke into the air that could be seen for miles. The fire was able to spread so quickly through the backlot in part because the studio streetscapes and sound stages (some dating as far back as the 1930s and 1940s) were made of timber. LAmetblogs.com claims that the film vault is “reported lost.” In an on-scene interview with the L. A. Times, Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge was quoted as saying he witnessed “firefighters…handing out the film cannisters.” (Let’s pray they can’t locate spielberg’s negatives.) Neither the Times nor the Associated Press are confirming a total meltdown in the vaults. Universal Studios spokesman Elliot Sekuler said the theme park would open Sunday, though the studio tour would be affected by the blaze. He said filming was going on when it broke out, but had few other details about the fire. No word yet on whether Schindler’s List: The Ride was damaged. Here’s a link to the official history of backlot blazes at Universal Studios.

***UPDATE***

WGN-Radio just ran an interview with a spokesman for the studio who reported that the video library was partially scorched, but the film archives remain untouched. Thanks for the early morning heart attack LAmetblogs.com!

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