Fire breaks out at Universal Studios

By JimK
(2 votes)

A fire at Universal Studios has destroyed a set from “Back to the Future,” the King Kong exhibit and a video vault containing more than 40,000 videos and reels.

Los Angeles County fire Captain Frank Reynoso says the blaze broke out just before dawn Sunday on a backlot stage at the 400-acre property. The fire has been contained.

Officials say the iconic courthouse square from “Back to the Future,” has been destroyed, and the famous clocktower that enabled star Michael J. Fox’s character to time travel has been damaged.

NBC Universal President and Chief Operating Officer Ron Meyer says 40,000 to 50,000 videos and reels were damaged in the video vault, but there are duplicates in a different location.

JimK: NOOOooooo! Courthouse Square? That thing is in everything. This is the second time it;s been burned, actually. In 1990, someone deliberately set a fire that wrecked the Square, the Ben Hur sets and some more street sets. $50,000,000 to rebuild it.

This time, they also lost a King Kong exhibit and a couple of street mockups used to re-create New York and New England streets. They are also saying they can replace all footage lost, since none of it contained negatives or originals. Also, it doesn’t seem that anyone was hurt or killed, luckily.

Emily: Come on, Jim. I can tell you care more about the clock tower from Hill Valley than you do about anyone who might have been hurt.

JimK: Shh! I’m trying to hide that.

Emily: It is not working.

JimK: You’re a mean one, Missus Grinch.

The truly important thing is that they say no filming for anything will be disrupted, so our TV and movie experiences will not be interrupted. Unless SAG strikes. Then I may not get to obsessively watch hundreds of hours of TV every week and no one wants that, because then I would have free time to do things in the world. Last time that happened, I’m just saying, there may have been a tsunami. Diet Coke and Mentos are way more powerful than you think.