Universal Studios hit by weekend fire

UPDATE: Investigators determined that the fire was accidentally caused by roofers using a blowtorch to conduct repairs.The workers were using a blowtorch to install asphalt shingles, and went on break around 4AM. The fire was spotted by a security guard 43 minutes later.


A piece of Hollywood history has gone up in flames. The Universal Studios backlot was incinerated by a massive fire on Sunday, which gutted significant portions of the studio. The blaze began just before dawn in a part of the Universal Studios backlot called "the New York City streetscape," and raged for the better part of 12 hours, spreading to nearby wooden mockups and sound stages. Explosions from the fire launched debris more than a quarter-mile into nearby city streets, and nine firefighters and a deputy sheriff suffered minor injuries combating the flames.

The cause of the fire, which remains to be determined, caused massive damage. No figure has emerged yet in terms of monetary damage, but the inferno razed a film archive of more than 40,000 videos and reels, the courthouse square from Back to the Future, and a mechanical King Kong used in one of the park's exhibits. A spokesman from Universal said that the videos destroyed already had copies at other locations, and the music masters lost were outdated; everything destroyed was safely digitized before the fire.

Nothing stops the steady march of the biz', though: The MTV Movie Awards went on uninterrupted, and the Universal Studios theme park reopened yesterday morning.

Related links:
UniversalStudios.com
TheGuardian.co.uk: Learning Lessons from the Universal Studios Fire

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