universal studios california fire

[centrino_7x]

BBC talking to a firefighter on the ground.

He is saying its not looking good. They thought they had it under control and they were surprised when another huge building went up.

 

[Fievel]

Fox news has an uninterupted live stream on their website....also about to update live again on air.

This fire is HUGE!

 

[rcapolete]

they were saying if the film vault goes up it could be huge since the film used in the silent days is highly flammable.

 

[dolbyman]

watchin foxnews on iptv and the special fox11 coverage via livestream .. so sad that kong is gone .. they skipped the portion on our last years trip .. so I couldn't film it one last time


foxnews11 just said that kong is still intact and untouced .. I guess we'll know for sure when the fire is over

 

[centrino_7x]

Yeh, looks like King Kong might be ok.

The street scenes in that area are all away though, its just streets of nothing now.

Not sure whats in that huge building thats on fire right now then.

 

[Fievel]

Back to the future set has also been destroyed.

 

[Fievel]

Trying to figure out on Google Earth where this fire has taken place and is going.

 

[maelstrom]

Now we'll have no King Kong ride at all.

This is very sad. This is a *real* studio with *real* history, not just a fake one for the themepark.

I'm pretty sure I have the whole studio tour on video from last time I was there, including King Kong.

 

[Fievel]

This might help...it looks from aerial shots that the clock tower from BTTF is still okay (for now)

 

[centrino_7x]

This might help...it looks from aerial shots that the clock tower from BTTF is still okay (for now)

Yeh, thats what I reckon too.

The white building is on fire. Either the white building or the grey one is King Kong, fox news weren't sure.

It's actually a pretty similar area to the 1990 fire.

 

[Fievel]

myfoxla.com has stated the building burning now is the video vault that houses all the duplicates from the film vault.

 

[DisneyEverest]

This might help...it looks from aerial shots that the clock tower from BTTF is still okay (for now)

thats about right

 

[disneydiva72]

Huge fire burns movie sets at Universal Studios

King Kong exhibit a total loss; filming was going on when blaze broke out


NBC News and news services
updated 39 minutes ago



UNIVERSAL CITY, California - A massive fire raged on a back lot filled with movie sets at Universal Studios early Sunday, spewing thick smoke as it devoured several buildings.
Los Angeles County fire Inspector Daryl Jacobs said 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, Jacobs said.
Firefighters told NBC News that the King Kong exhibit building would be a total loss.

Two helicopters and about 200 firefighters were trying to protect the film vaults on Universal City's back lot, authorities said. One firefighter was reported injured and taken to a local hospital. "The facades are constructed of heavy timber and they tend to burn quite freely," Jacobs said.
Universal Studios spokesman Elliot Sekuler said filming was going on when the fire broke out.
The blaze broke out just before dawn on a sound stage, fire Capt. Frank Reynoso said. A thick column of smoke rose thousands of feet into the air. For a time, firefighters helicopters swept in to drop water.
Firefighters were working to ensure the flames didn't spread to nearby brush, Reynoso said. There was at least one explosion, Reynoso said.
The studio said Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal CityWalk would be open Sunday for normal business hours. It said adjustments would be made to the studio tour but that no other rides and attractions were affected.
Universal City is nine miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Some of the more familiar attractions on the back lot are the clock tower from the "Back To The Future" movies and the house featured in "Psycho."
According to Universal's Web site, there have been six previous big fires in the studios' history.

 

[Fievel]

Updated map of damaged area...this is from MY observation of video footage from the helicopters.

Note: the BTTF set is no longer there...the clock tower was removed and is now used by another show.

 

[marni1971]

Fievel got it right. I`m watching KNBC, CNN and KCAL9 and have brought up a lot map as well as Google.

New York Street and area is all gone. Fire began in facades and rushed across the lot. Kongs roof caught fire, knocking out the supression system, and the building collapsed at 7am your time - just the exterior walls are left.

Building on the right on the map is a video - not film - vault. Some loss, some saved. Building gone.

Only injuries so far are 3 firefighters with minor injuries.

 

[dwightshrutefan]

Fievel got it right. I`m watching KNBC, CNN and KCAL9 and have brought up a lot map as well as Google.

New York Street and area is all gone. Fire began in facades and rushed across the lot. Kongs roof caught fire, knocking out the supression system, and the building collapsed at 7am your time - just the exterior walls are left.

Building on the right on the map is a video - not film - vault. Some loss, some saved. Building gone.

Only injuries so far are 3 firefighters with minor injuries.

On Fox, they said:

"2 blocks are gone, and Universal States: They expect the tram tour to be up by tommrow."

 

[imagineer boy]

Aw, that really is too bad. I was just there a couple months ago. It really is a shame that Kong has been destroyed, the animatronic is a historically advanced animatronic for its time.

What a shame.

 

[NemoRocks78]

R.I.P. Kong

 

[dxwwf3]

What a shame. The Kong part was nothing really special (much like the USF attraction), but it is still a shame. Hopefully they can get the fire out and salvage as much as possible.

 

[SirNim]

This is a very sad occurrence. Thankfully, the film library was archived in a second undisturbed location, and nearly all of the buildings gutted are just the simple steel-box-with-elaborate-facade-a-la-Main-Street-USA style. They can build them anew in no time...