Thaindian News

An over 30 meter high fire burnt down Universal Studios in Hollywood California yesterday destroying stage sets, including much of the famed New York City streetscape . The fire broke out at 4:30 am on Sunday. at the 400-acre establishment. The flames brought down soundstages and a streetscape at Hollywood’s famed Universal Studios.

A set from “Back to the Future,” a King Kong exhibit and a streetscape seen frequently in movies and TV shows were brought down to ashes by the raging inferno. Videos destroyed by the fire included films produced by Universal Studios and footage from television series including “Miami Vice” and “I Love Lucy.”

Nine firefighters and a police officer suffered minor injuries in the fire fight as several explosions rent the air. The treasured courthouse square from “Back to the Future” was destroyed; the legendary and famous clock tower that enabled Michael J. Fox’s character to travel through time was humbled to rumble and ashes, also two mock New York and New England streets used for making movies were damaged as we as the mechanically animated King Kong which bellows at visitors on a tram was destroyed in its house.

The fire was out of control and fire fighters admit it is the longest inferno they have faced so far. The studio was filled with 50,000 videos encased in plastic which were destroyed completely. According to Ron Meyer, president of Universal Studios “Everything inside the video vault was a copy of material stored elsewhere, and “nothing precious was lost,” According to Fire Capt. Mike Brown, the fire was the most challenging battle due to its complexity and big size. This makes it the longest fires to extinguish in this department lately”.

The studio is located nine miles north of downtown Los Angeles. It has thrill rides and a back lot where movies and television shows are made and filmed. Some of these shows and movies include some scenes from “War of the Worlds” and “When Harry Met Sally” as well as “Scrubs”