A relentless, fast-moving blaze at Universal Studios Hollywood on Sunday demolished two faux city blocks and movie facades seen in everything from “Back to the Future” to “Spider-Man 2,” shutting down the theme park for the day and raising questions about its water supply to fight fires. In the second major fire at the park in 18 years, the fierce flames destroyed countless pieces of Tinseltown history as well as the 16,000-square-foot King Kong building and a 10,000-square-foot video vault that housed 50,000 copies of titles from such beloved films and TV shows as “Miami Vice” and “I Love Lucy.” The pre-dawn blaze burned throughout the day, creating a scene reminiscent of an apocalyptic Hollywood movie and leaving nine firefighters and a sheriff's deputy with minor injuries. “It looked like the Valley was on fire,” City Councilman Tom LaBonge said. “It looked like a disaster film - but it was live.” The fire broke out about 4:30 a.m. on a New York Street backlot on the 400-acre property. It quickly spread to the courthouse set made famous by Michael J. Fox's 1985 hit, even damaging the clock tower that helped him travel through time. Investigators were still determining the cause late Sunday and did not release a damage amount, although it was expected to be in the millions of dollars. The fire also stranded thousands of tourists and thrill-seekers who looked forward to screaming on the new Simpsons Ride, touring studios and special-effects stages or strolling through CityWalk. Ash coated vehicles in the parking lot where John Barry, 39, pulled in with his daughter Monica, 10. “We smelled really bad, rubbery plastic,” Barry said as he walked back to his car to leave. “It was very strong.” About 400 firefighters from the Los Angeles County and Los Angeles city fire departments battled the blaze together because part of the studio stretches onto unincorporated land. Intense heat from the flames injured eight firefighters, who needed minor medical assistance. A sheriff's deputy and another firefighter received minor injuries during an explosion in the video vault that occurred almost 10 hours after the fire started. South Coast Air Quality Management Department officials also arrived to check for contaminants in the air and warned nearby residents to stay inside and keep their windows closed. As fire crews arrived on scene just before dawn, they quickly discovered a problem with the water pressure, said county Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman. Low pressure from an old water system specifically for the theme park challenged firefighters' efforts to quickly douse the flames that were already obliterating property about one-half mile up Main Street from Lankershim Boulevard. “We needed more water,” Freeman said. The dilemma forced fire crews to grab water from lakes and tap into lines from nearby cities, which deliver water at faster capacities than the smaller lines at Universal, Freeman added. After a fire ignited by a security guard at almost the same spot in 1990 tore through the same exhibits, officials improved the water system to make it more efficient. But Sunday's incident overwhelmed those enhancements. Freeman did not immediately know if having more water on the scene could have slowed the flames earlier, but said fire officials will review the operating system and decide if it can be rebuilt to prevent similar problems in the future. “They thought they had addressed that issue, but obviously they didn't,” said county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. “This was a wake-up call.” The Universal City system runs on smaller main lines and holds a smaller water capacity than surrounding cities, Freeman said. It gets water from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said Darryl Jacobs, a county fire spokesman. LaBonge said that when he first saw the flames at 5 a.m., it looked like a bomb had exploded and his concern quickly shifted to the water issue. “It was like two full football fields of intense fire, and they needed water quickly,” he said. “All the firefighters I spoke to said they had troubles with water.” After the scream of fire engines jolted Michael Lohr, 49, out of bed at 5 a.m., he joined his Cahuenga Pass neighbors outside to watch the massive blaze that could be seen for miles. “The flames were five times higher than the buildings,” said Lohr, who also counted the booms of four explosions likely caused by propane tanks. “I didn't know flames could get that high. You could see fireballs.” A heavy mushroom cloud of black smoke blanketed skies over the park, and the stench of burning videos and other combustibles hung in the air. Outside the park, Lankershim Boulevard was blocked at Campo de Cahuenga by police and Los Angeles Department of Transportation officers to clear the roadway for emergency personnel. The somber sight stunned some people as they emerged from the Red Line subway at the Universal City station. “I was like, `Oh my God, it's Universal Studios! It's on fire!”' said Esmeralda Ortiz, 18, of Palmdale. Leo Sabal, 49, of Los Angeles, who works as a temporary security guard at the park, thought of terrorism. “I thought this was about national security,” he said. Much of the black smoke that lingered throughout the day as the fire burned came from the video vault, which was difficult for firefighters to enter because it has limited access points, officials said. Firefighters dragged out hundreds of videos from the concrete-reinforced building with masonry walls before they were damaged, but the facility also has spare copies stored elsewhere, park officials said. “Nothing irreplaceable was lost,” said Ron Meyer, NBC Universal's president and chief operating officer. Although officials first planned to open the park by noon - then 1 p.m., then 1:30 p.m. - the gates remained locked. By 3:45 p.m., they finally decided to keep it closed the rest of the day. Officials said it is expected to reopen today. Though the fire burned down sections of Brownstone Street and New England Street, it spared Wisteria Lane - the setting for the racy TV show “Desperate Housewives.” But news that King Kong finally met his match saddened Michael Ordonez, 11, who loved the attraction for its explosions and other adrenaline rushes. “It was my favorite,” said the Pacoima fifth-grader. “I liked it because you can see King Kong, and the bridge moves as if there's an earthquake.” As the fire continued to burn in the background, fire officials and politicians repeated a common theme - it could have been much worse. “In a bad situation, they really made it as manageable as it possibly could have been,” Meyer said of the firefighters. “We were very lucky.” - Los Angeles Daily News __
