Last Updated: 06/02/08 3:25 PM (more photos added)
A major fire broke out in pre-dawn hours at Universal Studios Hollywood on June 1st 2008. The fire, located on the lower lot, burned over a two block area that included the King Kong attraction which you ride through on the tram, and the Courthouse Square building which was featured in Back to the Future movies. The New York streets appear to be mostly destroyed.
This is not the first time that the lower lot has suffered a major fire. This is the second time that the Courthouse Square area has burned. After the fire in the 90’s, the fire department worked with the company to build new fire suppression systems in the back lot. Those measures appear to have largely failed this morning. The fire department reporting that water pressure was a major problem. The King Kong building caught fire from the roof, overwhelmed the fire system, and became too dangerous for fire fighters to save.
Fire fighters fought to save the video vault and remove as many cases as possible from the building, but after many hours of fighting, the building was eventually lost. The vault contained an enormous film archive. However Universal CEO Ron Meyer said that backups and copies exist and although it would be a lot of work, nothing important will be lost.
It has been reported that low water pressure forced responding units to pump water out of the lagoon where they part the Red Sea on the Tram Tour. How the fire started and why supression systems failed are under investigation.
The theme park remained closed throughout Sunday the 1st but reopened as usual, including the Tram Tour, on Monday the 2nd.
UPDATE: 06/02/08 11:13 AM - The Tram Tour is back up and running and taking guest right past part of the burn area - about 20 feet away. There are still about 20 fire trucks within view of the trams. The Courthouse (of Back to the Future fame) was damaged but still standing!
UPDATE: 06/02/08 5:30 PM - Sources close to the investigation report that the fire was an accident caused by workers who were repairing the New York street sets with “Heating Tools”. Still no word on what went wrong with the fire suppression systems and why the fire was able to spread so quickly.
Below are a comparison shot of the areas affected after the fire and before. They are marked so you can better determine where everything is:
After the fire (photo by SnowWhiteRaven)
Before the fire
The following photos were taken on the morning of 06/02/08 (the day after the fire). Thank you to Snow White Raven and Sir Clinksalot for these amazing shots:
Photo by Sir Clinksalot
The pictures below are courtesy of Al Lutz of www.miceage.micechat.com from his recent walking tour of the Universal lot. Additional photos were posted 06/02/08 at this link. All of the areas that you see below were damaged or have been completely lost. An interior shot of the facades gives a clue as to why the fire was able to spread so quickly.
This is Courthouse Square as currently dressed for the TV show Ghost Whisperer (Photo by Al Lutz)
Forecourt of Courthouse Square (Courtesy Al Lutz)
New York street Brownstones (Courtesy Al Lutz)
New York Streets (Courtesy Al Lutz)
New York Streets (Courtesy Al Lutz)
This is an interior shot showing what is behind the facades. You can see why the fire spread so quickly.
King Kong Interior (Photo by Al Lutz)
RIP King Kong (Photo by Fishbulb)
More photos to come
There are two discussion threads on MiceChat:
Discussion in the News Section
19 Comments, Comment or Ping
GothicManor
I was just there friday, very odd that the same exact areas burned again as did a few years ago including Back to the Future Courthouse and now king kong is gone (I wish it had been the earthquake attraction as it is too bouncy for me) Odd I found a news report that a bomb threat occured 30 mins before the fire broke out???
Jun 1st, 2008
GothicManor
oh btw Bob Gurr helped create the Kong Animatronic
Jun 1st, 2008
Dustysage
A HUGE thank you to MiceChat’s Snow White Raven and Sir Clinksalot who both went to Universal to snap some shots for us today. It is amazing people like you who make MiceChat such a unique site.
Jun 2nd, 2008
Rixter
Best coverage of this event on the internet! Thanks to the MiceChat team for putting it together.
Jun 2nd, 2008
I Heart Disneyland
Outstanding coverage. Thanks so much!
Jun 2nd, 2008
MickeyMaxx
Honestly the best photographic coverage of the fire I’ve been able to find on the internet. The graphics calling out the areas affected, made it easy to get one’s bearings, and today’s up close shots were so helpful. Thanks to the photographers and the MIceChat crew that shifted into overdrive when the news broke, and continued to keep the info up to date.
Jun 2nd, 2008
SummerInFL
Great job everyone! Way to step up to the plate under such horrible circumstances.
Jun 3rd, 2008
TDLFAN
This is so sad. Bad timing as well with the summer season about to begin..
Thanks for the great coverage on this.
Jun 3rd, 2008
CBSF
I’ve had friends who’ve worked these lots for years, these buildings were re-built cheaply (like their predessors) and barely met firecodes for permanent structures. I mean, its always of fun to see fake bricks made of plastic and wood and structures held together with baling wire and sheetmetal, but no-more, I expect the next structures built won’t be so poorly constructed and I bet many of the existing structures on the lot will be rebuilt if Universal expects to be insured. I mean Allstate almost dropped my insurance because my roof was too old! (I replaced it) So good riddence to 1940s outmoded sets (technology-wise), time for Univeral to move into the next Century and design steel sets which are safe and can be easily redesigned and customized.
Jun 5th, 2008
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