Fire ravages Universal Studios

[belfastuniguy 18]

Blaze ravages Universal Studios

The fire raged for several hours before being contained

Hundreds of firefighters have been tackling a large fire at the world-famous Universal Studios in Los Angeles, California.

The blaze was reported before dawn on a sound stage at the film studios, said Los Angeles fire captain Frank Reynoso.

The fire swept through several buildings at the 230-acre site, destroying the King Kong attraction and threatening a video library vault.

Three people suffered minor injuries in the fire.

They contained the fire that could've really burnt horribly out of control Ron Meyer Universal Studios

Helicopters dropped water on to the burning structures, and television pictures showed flames leaping into the air as a thick cloud of smoke covered the site.

Los Angeles fire department chief Michael Freeman said the fire had spread quickly through an area depicting a New York street scene.

"It moved through that area extremely fast," he said. "Those are basically building fronts with some walls but they're very susceptible to rapid burning... it also burned courthouse square and then it got into the King Kong building. That building is totally destroyed."

The courthouse square featured in the Back to the Future films.

'Real heroes'

Firefighters were also involved in a salvage operation to rescue hundreds of videos as a video library vault caught fire. The fire has been contained to that area, but it has raised concerns about archive film.

In pictures: LA studios inferno

The thick black that billowed into the Los Angeles sky was partly due to the plastic video containers burning, Mr Freeman said.

The head of Universal Studios, Ron Meyer, said about 40,000 to 50,000 videos and reels were damaged in the blaze, but "nothing irreplaceable" had been lost as duplicates were kept elsewhere.

He thanked the firefighters for their efforts.

"They are real heroes, I mean they were here in record time," he said. "They contained the fire that could've really burnt horribly out of control."

Behind-the-scenes tours of the studios are a long-established tradition still popular with visitors today.

The studio said the theme park and City Walk shopping centre would be open on Sunday, but tours to the area affected by the fire had been cancelled.

The BBC's Rajesh Mirchandani in Los Angeles says a propane fuel tank explosion may have caused the fire, but investigations into the cause of the blaze are continuing.

There are indications that the sound stage in the area had recently been used for filming.

It is likely that there would have been a good deal of flammable material and props, as well as fuel supplies, on the site, our correspondent adds.quote>