By Sue Zeidler
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A massive fire broke out at theUniversal Studios film and TV studio on Sunday, engulfing onesoundstage and burning a New York City street set.
A total of 400 firefighters from several Los Angeles-areafire departments were battling the blaze, said L.A. County FireInspector Sam Padilla, adding that three firefighters werebeing treated for minor injuries.
Padilla said the fire had been contained to a singlestructure, the "King Kong" exhibit, by 9 a.m. (1600 GMT) and hepredicted the fire would be "knocked down" within hours.
"A total of five structures within the New York exhibit,including one soundstage, were lost," said another L.A. Countyfire inspector, Frank Garrido, who added that the blaze hadstarted in the back-lot area depicting New York City, which wasdestroyed.
He said about three-quarters of a building housing a "KingKong" exhibit was destroyed. A building that holds a videovault of original and master versions of old movies had beendestroyed and the vault itself had been "compromised."
Ron Meyer, the president of Universal Studios, said,however, that "nothing irreplaceable was lost" in the videovault.
The exact monetary damage had not yet been fully assessed.
Garrido said the studio's theme park and popular City Walkshopping centre would be open on Sunday, although tours to theback lot, where the fire occurred, had been cancelled.
Television coverage showed trucks with water cannonsdousing flames from one soundstage, and smoke poured into theair causing a haze that blanketed parts of west Los Angeles andthe Hollywood area.
Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Darryl Jacobs said theblaze was first reported around 4:45 a.m., but it was notimmediately clear what started the fire.
Building facades meant to look like New York City werecharred, and several acres on the 230-acre (93-hectare) backlot were burning at one point in the early morning hours.
Eliot Sekular, a spokesman for Universal Studios, saiddamage was confined mostly to the back lot of the studio wheremovies and TV shows are shot and not to the adjoining themepark.
Universal has been the home of numerous movies over itslong history in Hollywood, including modern-day blockbusterssuch as "Jaws" and "Back to the Future." Director StevenSpielberg houses his production company on the lot.
Los Angeles County and city firefighters encountered someexplosions from propane tanks as they fought the fire, and atone point firefighters ran into water pressure issues on partsof the studio lot, Jacobs said.
"There was an issue with water, but that has beenrectified," he said.
Helicopters had been brought in to drop water.
Universal Studios, operated by NBC Universal Inc, is a unitof General Electric Co.. The film and TV studio is a sistercompany to the NBC broadcast network, but NBC's main officesare housed in a separate location in nearby Burbank.
(Additional reporting by Bob Tourtellotte, editing by EricBeech)
