Crews Extinguish Marathon 'Universal' Blaze

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Crews Extinguish Marathon 'Universal' Blaze NBC President: 'Nothing Is Lost Forever'

Posted: 8:08 am CDT June 1, 2008
Updated: 11:43 pm CDT June 1, 2008

Universal City, Calif. -- Universal Studios officials said they're thankful nobody was hurt in a marathon battle against a massive inferno that scorched parts of the Southern California theme park.

Video: Universal Studios Fire

The fire burned more than 12 hours destroying a set from "Back to the Future," a King Kong exhibit and a streetscape seen frequently in movies and TV shows. The blaze broke out on a sound stage featuring New York brownstone facades early Sunday morning.

Firefighters said they had a hard time snuffing out the flames because of low water pressure.

Hundreds of tourists waited outside the gates of the closed park Sunday. It gets about 25,000 visitors on a typical weekend day. Park officials closed the park for the day.

Thousands of videos chronicling Universal's movie and TV shows were destroyed in the blaze. But NBC Universal's president said the studio has duplicates saying, "Nothing is lost forever."

It's the second fire in the historic site in nearly two decades. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Damage is expected to be in the millions of dollars.

Several firefighters suffered minor injuries while fighting the blaze.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[comedyfreak]

I was bummed when I heard about the fire.

[InspectorExstead]

i didn't hear about the fire until monday, but i was completely shocked. i can't believe it. i've been to universal & the backlot tour so many times. it's sad to think of the damage that's been done.