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Backdraft on the Universal Studios Backlot

On Thursday June 5th, 2008, in Entertainment, News, by Michael Watson
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UNIVERSAL CITY, CA - JUNE 01:  Approximately 300 firefighters battle a huge fire on the backlot of Universal Studios on June 1, 2008 in Universal City, California. The fire is consuming the filming site of many blockbuster movies including Back to the Future and King Kong. The New York Streets lot and a film vault have reportedly burned.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

There was a massive fire at the Universal Studios backlot in which the famous facades of New York, the courthouse in ‘Back to the Future’ and several buildings including a film vault containing up to 40,000 film reels were destroyed. The fire broke out June 1st, around 530 a.m. accidentally by a torch being from a roofing crew. Hundreds of firefighters were on scene to keep the raging fire from spreading to other nearby buildings. Firefighters faced difficulties due to extreme temperatures and low water pressure. Nine firefighters and one officer were injured in the blaze. One firefighter and the officer were hurt while recovering the films they could while the vault was going up in flames.

Officials are looking into the safety of facades and the necessity for less flammable materials being used in set construction. During the time of the fire there was a production crew filing in the area. In pictures you can see multiple film trucks and vehicles that were unfortunately destroyed in the fire. It’s assumed that the fire will result in millions of dollars in damage.

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