Universal Hollywood Back Lot on fire!

[CBeilby]

A little over an hour ago (as of the time of this post) a fire broke out on the Universal Hollywood back lot. Between footage from CNN.com and radio reporting on KNX, it's apparent that the fire started as a grass fire, and is on the New York Street area of the back lot. There have apparently been some explosions, believed to be propane tanks. LA County Fire, LA City Fire, and Burbank fire have responded withwell over a hundred fire fighters on the scene, plus sixteen engines and two trucks, as well as two fire suppression helicopters (which have since been withdrawn for safety reasons.) From what I can tell from the footage, it's some of the facade buildings at New York Street, and very close to, but not the same building as one of the tram effects attractions. It's pretty obvious that the Tram will be 10-7 at least for the day, and there's a strong possibility that the entire park could be closed. Any Universal Hollywood TMs with shifts today should definitely call in to check and make sure the park is open before reporting to work.

[hobie16]

MSNBC sez the trams will run today with some modifications to the route. They also report the King Kong exhibit was damaged.

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

All that being said, I hope that no one is hurt or injured.

They did say that possibly some film archives were damaged.

[CBeilby]

All that being said, I hope that no one is hurt or injured.

They did say that possibly some film archives were damaged.

A few firefighters have been injured, which is unfortunately part of the job. Also, a Video archive was damaged, but according to a Universal Studios spokesman, nothing was irrevocably lost.

[dazyhill]

Universal Studios and Universal City Walk did not open today. There was way too much smoke and according to KABC 7, there was an explosion at 2:30 PDT probably from the still-burning fire at the video vault.
The fire started on the New York City set and spread quickly. The New York set has been completely destroyed. Also lost is Courthouse Square. For "Back to the Future" fans,this is where the famous "Clock Tower" is. I have heard different reports that the Clock Tower is gone or has suffered major damage. Courthouse Square has been in hundreds of films and TV. Another famous film Courthouse Square is in is "To Kill A Mockingbird". I am very sad about this loss,not only because Courthouse Square was my favorite part of the tour,but of the history.
The King Kong ride/exhibt is gone too. I think it burned to the ground.
As mentioned earlier,one of the video vaults caught fire. Universal has duplicates of everything so it is very doubtful anything will be lost for good. Firefighters and workers were pulling canisters out as quickly as they could.
My dad works at the nearby Hollywood Bowl and the smell and smoke are awful. He called and he said the visability was poor (in comparison to a typical day in LA).
Very sad loss for Universal. I am sure they will rebuild. Kudos for Universal also for taking guest safety into consideration and keeping the park closed.

[Freak]

Bummer. Any word on what caused the grass to catch on fire? Sorta sad that Kong burned down, but I'm sure Universal can come up with something 5 times better to put in its place. I respect Uni for not opening the park and scaring more about it's guests than profit. I'm most saddened by BTTF's Clock Tower! They already ripped out the ride, and now there's nothing left of that ride! VERY sad.

[Freak]

Sorry about the double post...but ABC7 just did a spot on the fire, and there were Stupid Guests COMPLAINING about not being allowed in the park! LMFAO.

I'm sorry ma'am, I'd really like to let you in, I really would, but the FIRE DEPARTMENT SAID NOT TO.

[Ms. Matterhorn]

Sorry about the double post...but ABC7 just did a spot on the fire, and there were Stupid Guests COMPLAINING about not being allowed in the park! LMFAO.

I'm sorry ma'am, I'd really like to let you in, I really would, but the FIRE DEPARTMENT SAID NOT TO.

LOL! Very funny, Freak. Imagine people driving up to USH, seeing the smoke, and still expecting to go in!

I'm very sad about the loss of Courthouse Square and damage to/ loss of the clock tower. BTF is one of my all-time favorite movies. USH had a fire many years ago in which the Cleaver residence was destroyed.

[pattimelt]

And then there were the SG's that called Disneyland to see if we were going to offer a discount on tickets for those people that couldn't go to Universal today...

I know Universal is hurting when they do the "buy a day, get 2008 free" special for the last 6 months, but dang, why do these people think that because Universal is doing it, Disneyland is, too???

[hobie16]

And then there were the SG's that called Disneyland to see if we were going to offer a discount on tickets for those people that couldn't go to Universal today...

Really?!?! You're kidding!