It was the second fire at the historic site in nearly two decades, levelingfacades, hollowing out buildings and creating the kind of catastrophe filmmakers relishre-creating. This time around, thousands of videos chronicling Universal's movie and TV shows weredestroyed in the blaze.
But Universal officials said that they were thankful no vistors were seriouslyinjured — though several firefighters suffered minor injuries — and that the damaged footage can bereplaced.
"We have duplicates of everything," said Ron Meyer, NBC Universal president andchief operating officer. "Nothing is lost forever."
The blaze broke out on a sound stage featuring New York brownstone facades around4:30 a.m. at the 400-acre property, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Michael Freeman said. The firewas contained to the lot but burned for more than 12 hours before the final flames wereextinguished.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. Damage was expected to be in themillions of dollars.
The iconic courthouse square from Back to the Future was destroyed, and the famous clock tower that enabled Michael J. Fox'scharacter to travel through time was damaged, fire officials said. Two mock New York and NewEngland streets used both for movie-making and as tourist displays were a total loss, Los AngelesCounty Fire Inspector Darryl Jacobs said.
An exhibit housing a mechanically animated King Kong that bellows at visitors on atram also was destroyed.
All three sites were either damaged or destroyed during another fire at UniversalStudios in November 1990. That fire caused $25 million in damage and was started by a securityguard who was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to arson.
Concerns for air quality due to the acrid smoke prompted the South Coast AirQuality Management District to send a chemist to take air samples at the scene, said spokesman SamAtwood. Results were expected Monday morning.
Hundreds of visitors who had waited for hours outside the park gates were turnedaway after officials decided not to open the area. On a typical weekend day, about 25,000 peoplevisit Universal Studios. NBC Universal said in a statement that the park would reopen Mondaymorning.
Universal CityWalk, a shopping promenade, was also closed. The MTV Movie Awards,broadcasting live Sunday night from the adjacent Gibson Amphitheater, went on as planned.
Mike Herrick of San Diego watched the fire on television from his hotel Sundayafternoon before deciding to return to Universal Studios for a second day with his wife.
"By gosh, we're going to go and get whatever we can out of it," Herrick said. OnSaturday, Herrick had ridden the tram that winds around the studio lot, snapping photos of the KingKong attraction, among other sights.
The fire broke out along New York Street, where firefighting helicopters swept infor drops and cranes dumped water on the flames. A thick column of smoke rose thousands of feetinto the air and could be seen for miles.
"It looked like a disaster film," said Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge.
Several firefighters suffered minor injuries. One firefighter and a Los AngelesCounty sheriff's deputy were slightly hurt when a pressurized cylinder exploded inside the buildinghousing the videos.
The streetscape that burned recently served as a backdrop in such films as Bruce Almighty and television shows including Monk, Crossing Jordan and House, said NBC Universal spokeswoman Cindy Gardner.
Meyer estimated there were 40,000 to 50,000 videos and film reels in a vault thatburned but said duplicates were stored in a different location. Firefighters managed to recoverhundreds of titles.
The videos included every film that Universal has produced and footage fromtelevision series including Miami Vice and I Love Lucy.
Universal Studios, nine miles north of downtown Los Angeles, has thrill rides and a back lotwhere movies and television shows are filmed, including scenes from War of the Worlds, When Harry Met Sally and Scrubs.
