LOS ANGELES - A large fire tore through a back lot at Universal Studios early Sunday, destroying a set from "Back to the Future," the King Kong exhibit and thousands of videos and reels in a vault.
ADVERTISEMENT

The blaze broke out on a sound stage at the theme park in a set featuring New York brownstones facades around 4:30 a.m. at the 400-acre property, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Michael Freeman said. The fire was contained to the lot but still burning several hours later.

Roughly 40,000 to 50,000 videos and reels were in the video vault, but there are duplicates stored in a different location, said Ron Meyer, NBC Universal president and chief operating officer. Firefighters managed to recover hundreds of those titles from the vault.

"Nothing is lost forever," Meyer said.

The videos included every film that Universal has produced and footage from television series including "Miami Vice" and "I Love Lucy."

The iconic courthouse square from "Back to the Future" was also destroyed, Freeman said, and the famous clock tower that enabled Michael J. Fox's character to travel through time was damaged.

Two mock New York and New England streets used both for movie-making and as tourist displays were a total loss, said Darryl Jacobs, Los Angeles County fire inspector.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, and no initial damage estimates were given.

The park reopened at noon Sunday. On a typical weekend day about 25,000 people visit Universal Studios.

However, studio tram tours planned to avoid the King Kong attraction, a favorite stop where the ape bellows at passengers and an artificial banana scent fills the air, said Universal Studios spokesman Eliot Sekuler.

Hundreds of visitors waited outside the park gates Sunday morning, where acrid smoke lingered, providing an eerie backdrop. Fire officials didn't believe air quality would pose a health hazard to the public.

Mike Herrick of San Diego watched the fire on television from his hotel 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. On Saturday, Herrick had ridden the tram that winds around the studio lot, snapping photos of the King Kong attraction, among other sights.

The fire will not affect the 2008 MTV Movie Awards, which is to be broadcast live Sunday night from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, according to the music network.

The fire broke out along New York Street, where firefighting helicopters swept in for drops and cranes dumped thousands of gallons of water on flames in the early morning. More than 100 firefighters worked to ensure the flames didn't spread to nearby brush.

At least one building had burned and as many as three blocks of movie facades were destroyed, Jacobs said. A thick column of smoke rose thousands of feet into the air.

At one point the blaze was two city blocks wide, and low water pressure forced firefighters to get reserves from lakes and ponds on the property. Three firefighters suffered minor injuries.

"The water pressure situation was a challenge," Freeman said. "This fire moved extremely fast."

Universal Studio, nine miles north of downtown Los Angeles, has thrill rides and a back lot where movies and television shows are filmed, including scenes from "War of the Worlds," "When Harry Met Sally" and "Scrubs."

A commercial shoot was going on when the fire broke out, Sekuler said.

A major fire erupted at Universal Studios in November 1990, destroying sets for several TV and movie productions, including "Dick Tracy" and "The Sting" and causing $25 million in damage. A security guard was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to starting the blaze.