Major Fire Burns on Universal Studios Backlot ( Update )

Los Angeles Times ^ | 3:22 PM PDT, June 1, 2008 | Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Bettina Boxall and Ari Bloomekatz, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

[kellynla]

Low water pressure hampered efforts today to fight a fire that raged through the Universal Studios backlot in Universal City, destroying a soundstage, the theme park's King Kong attraction, a video vault and sets such as the Courthouse Square seen in "Back to the Future" and the New York street scape from "Bruce Almighty."

As the equivalent of two city blocks burned -- firefighters were still dousing hot spots 10 hours after the blaze began in predawn darkness -- a mushroom-like cloud of smoke drifted over surrounding neighborhoods, raising some health concerns.

A large explosion near the video storage building about 2:30 p.m. left a firefighter and sheriff's deputy with minor injuries, officials said. Four other firefighters suffered minor injuries earlier.

The theme park will not reopen today.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, whose district includes Universal City, said fire officials told him that unusually low water pressure had made the fight more difficult.

"They said the water was coming out of the hoses anemically," he said. "The water pressure is not what it should have been. It's enough of a wake-up call that we need to take another look."

County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said the park had installed a large-scale sprinkler system after a 1990 blaze, but it didn't seem to work adequately today. Firefighters pulled water from ponds and lakes on the backlot. They also brought in a 6,000-gallon water tender.

"It appears the fire this morning overwhelmed fire protection features," Freeman said. "We're going to readily and quickly reevaluate that and see if that had any impact on the water pressure."

Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge said he also heard about the water-pressure problems.

[kellynla]

[kellynla]

[kellynla]

[353FMG]

Don’t worry. It’s just a make-believe fire.

[TheZMan]

Funny thing is, that fire dumped more crap into the sky (including CO2) than I bet every car within 100 miles of there does over the course of a year. No one will even wimper about the environMENTAL costs of such a blaze.

[DoughtyOne]

I posted this on servearl threads about 3:40 p.m.

It is now about 3:40 p.m. at Universal Studios. Currently white clouds of smoke are contining to rise above the Universal Studio lot.

At times the white smoke remains thick and near the ground, and at other times it rises in a large white cloud. This is visible from five to seven miles away.

As I write this, another white cloud of smoke has risen one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet in the air.

As of 2:15 p.m., there was still dark smoke rising from the studio lot.

I thought some of you might find this intesting.

It is now about 4:15 p.m. and white smoke still continues to rise from the Universal back lot.

[Las Vegas Ron]

Hey, you live in that area too. I've run across a couple of Freepers today that live in close proximity to the studio.

The reason I ask is that that area is my old stomping grounds. I lived on Aqua Vista, close to Vineland for a few years.

[DoughtyOne]

Vineland is a rather long street and I’m not sure where Aqua Vista crosses, but I know the whole street fairly well having spent the last 40 years in the area. I’ve noticed a number of folks mentioning they were close by also. Thanks for the comments.

[taxesareforever]

Whoops. There goes all California’s carbon credits. Isn’t it interesting how ecological disasters hit those states that stand for staying green?

[Las Vegas Ron]

Vineland is the first street south of the 101. Basically it runs right into The Beverley Gardens Hotel

[Las Vegas Ron]

ooops, I meant Aqua Vista not Vineland.

Damn, I havn’t even had a beer today.

[ru4liberty]

View Map

I lived on Barham (long ago) and overlooked Universal's back lot.

[MinuteGal]

Will Universal get awarded an Oscar for special effects?

Leni

[Las Vegas Ron]

I love that area. I used to ride my motorcycle up in the hills around there right around Lake Hollywood (The one that was in the movie Earthquake) well the dam anyway

Surprisingly, many people who live in the valley or on the edges do not even know it exists.

[kellynla]

“Will Universal get awarded an Oscar for special effects?”

Firefighters are out there risking their lives as we speak...

I don’t see anything funny about this

[MinuteGal]

I'll bet you're a big hoot in your compound.

Leni

[ArmstedFragg]

We’re definitely having ‘small world’ day today. I lived just down the hill from you near Pass and Riverside.

[hoppity]

Do you live at Bob's Big Boy?


I wish I did.

[ClearCase_guy]

Saw the headline and thought Frank was making a comeback.

[libsmacker75]

OTOH NBC/Universal will be incrementally less able to spew its “progressive” crap into the nation’s media stream for awhile. Now THAT’s what I call an “offset”!