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Universal Film studio, one of the most famous film studios in the world was partly destroyed after a massive fire broke out here on Sunday, June 1, 2008. The Sunday fire destroyed a set from ‘Back to the Future’ along with a King Kong exhibit. None the less, the Universal officials were thankful that no one was seriously injured at the theme park. This was the second fire at the studios in past two decades. The 1990 fire at Universal had cost about $25 million.
The blaze broke about around 4.30 am at the 400 acre property in Los Angeles. The fire was contained with much difficulty, with about 400 firefighters on the job. Mike Brown, Country Fire Captain remarked that it was one of the longest fires to extinguish because of its complexity and size. The cause of the fire has not been identified as yet and is still under investigation.
Several firefighters have however suffered minor injuries while they were controlling the fire. The fire was so severe that a thick column of smoke rose thousands of feet into the air and could be seen for miles. Some of the popular films which have been shot at Universal are ‘When Harry Met Sally’, ‘War of the Worlds’ and ‘Scrub’. Ron Meyer, NBC Universal president and chief operating officer remarked that nothing is lost forever and they do have duplicates of everything. The damage caused by the fire is expected to be running in millions.
