Hey, huskerlaw--how close are you to the fire? MASSIVE blaze at Universal studios lot.

[Shakespeare]

Started shortly after 5 a.m.; I can see the smoke from my place. So far it's completely destroyed the (big) NYC exterior set, now burning a couple of sound stages.

[Midlodemocrat]

1. I just saw that on the news. Hope no one got hurt.

We DO need to hear from huskerlaw, PDQ.

:hi:

[huskerlaw]

3. Hi Midlo!

I'm fine!

I'm about two miles away. Felt the explosion, can't see the sun through the smoke, and am right under the helicopter flight plan, but other than that, I'm totally ok.

I have the local news on and they're reporting that nobody was hurt. Thank goodness.

:hi:

[Midlodemocrat]

4. Whew! Glad you're okay.

:hug:

[Shakespeare]

6. No injuries so far.

So that's a good thing. It is burning close to the film vault, however, so I hope they can keep it away from there.

[huskerlaw]

2. Hey Shakespeare...I'm fine!

You're so sweet for asking. I'm about 2 miles from Universal, but I'm perfectly safe.

The air here is HORRIBLE. We can barely see the sun through the smoke.

I was woken up...I'm not even sure when, lol...by the explosion. Thought it was an earthquake. Not a big deal, but disconcerting from a dead sleep!

Other than that and the near continuous helicopters flying back and forth, we're fine.

[Shakespeare]

5. Glad to hear it. I couldn't remember how closer you are to the studios.

Nobody's been hurt so far (thank goodness), but it's burning rather close to Universal's film vault. Looks like they're doing a good job of knocking it down, so hopefully it won't get any worse.

:hi:

[huskerlaw]

7. The smoke is SO gross.

It appears to be blowing almost directly over my apartment. IIICK!

Thankfully, it has gotten significantly less black in the past 30 minutes or so.

[Call Me Wesley]

8. Ewww, I just saw it on DER SPIEGEL.

Looks quite awful:

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,1197233,00.jpg

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,1197236,00.jpg

[huskerlaw]

9. Smells quite awful too!

*hack, hack*

Still LOTS of smoke, fire engines roaring past and helicopters flying overhead.

[Shakespeare]

10. Eep--the video vault IS burning.

Universal rep on the local news now saying they have people gathering up reels by the armful and running them out of the building.

[huskerlaw]

12. They clarified that...

it's a video vault, not the FILM vault. Apparently the film vault is more important. :shrug:

[Lex]

13. Oh crap.

No! :cry:

[huskerlaw]

15. Head of Universal says

they didn't loose anything irreplaceable. It was video, not the film vault.

[Lex]

16. Oh cool. Thanks for that update.

I was just reading through the thread where you clarified that.

*whew*

[Midlodemocrat]

17. LOL. GMTA. I was just thinking Oh, No!!!

Thinking it was the film vault. *whew*

[terrya]

18. I'm glad to hear that.

And I'm glad to hear you're ok and no one was hurt.

[huskerlaw]

20. All's good!

Other than the fact that my apartment smells like burnt plastic... :puke:

[Shakespeare]

23. Yuck. I hope that smell doesn't linger.

The burnt smell got into EVERYTHING during the 2003 wildfires, and for a couple of days everything I ate or drank tasted burned.

Glad it's not blowing my way, but you have my total sympathy about that.

[Haole Girl]

24. How scary...

Just called my younger sis, but she didn't answer.

She lives in Silver Lake, but works at one of the studios (not Universal) & I hope she didn't get caught up in it.

:scared:

[huskerlaw]

25. She should be fine...

the smoke is blowing away from Silverlake, into the Valley. It was completely contained to the Universal lot and it's almost out now.

Luckily, at 5 am on a Sunday morning, not many people were involved!

[Haole Girl]

27. Thanks...

She works the overnight shift... so she's probably sleeping right now.

[Kajsa]

22. Glad you're OK, Huskerlaw!

That must have been very frightening.

:scared:

And I'm glad the film vault
is OK, too.

[huskerlaw]

11. Local News Update:

The fire did go into a video vault, but apparently not the film vault.

One firefighter has been treated for smoke inhalation.

New York Street is completely destroyed. (this set was used in Seinfeld, among many other shows)

There was damage to some soundstages that weren't actually involved in the fire (heat, water, etc.).

There are 300 fire crews on scene.

The King Kong part of the studio tour was involved.

They referred to the air quality as "Stage Three"...whatever that means. Lots of plastic and styrofoam involved.

There's supposed to be an official press conference in a bit. I'll update with info from that.

[huskerlaw]

14. LA County Fire Department says...

400 firefighters currently on site.

Fire started on NY street, then burned courthouse square (the Back to the Future set) and the King Kong building.

The video vault is currently on fire, so the current smoke is full of plastic. Whee.

They did remove hundreds of videos before it caught fire.

3 firefighters had minor injuries...heat exhaustion, minor burns.

Cause under investigation.

Explosions were caused by propane tanks.

From the Universal head:
-The theme park will open at noon.
-The main vault with the motion picture negatives was not damaged
-Nothing irreplaceable was lost in the video vault fire
-2 of the Ghost Whisperer sets were lost


And the answer we've all been DYING to hear: The Wysteria Lane (Desperate Housewives) set is completely fine. :P

[Shakespeare]

19. That was funny.

The fire chief laughed and said "I knew somebody was going to ask me that!" (about the Desperate Housewives set)

I :loveya: firemen. They work exta-hard in LA (thanks to the environment), and do a great job.

[huskerlaw]

21. Yeah, it was!

And how he was all "I um...don't watch that show..." :rofl:

The firemen here are AMAZING. This could have been an absolutely huge disaster, what with the dry hills as a backdrop to this.

[driver8]

26. I was on the 134 this morning driving towards Burbank --

I couldn't believe how thick the smoke was!!

I work at Warner Bros. and was very relieved to see it wasn't my building that was going up in flames!

[Shakespeare]

28. I'm STILL seeing billowing smoke over the hills.

Either Universal is still burning, or something else has caught fire. And the air quality has gone all to crap today, too. x(

[Beaverhausen]

30. I'm hearing fire sirens- I'm about 2 miles northwest of Universal

it might be something else. :scared: It's very windy and dry today.

[Beaverhausen]

31. oops dupe

dogs howling at the sirens

[Beaverhausen]

32. another dupe- sirens stopped nearby. I'm still in my jammies or I'd go look

yes, big party last night...

[Beaverhausen]

29. word

:hi:

[driver8]

33. Word up!

How are you?

Are you still at Warner Bros.?

We need to have a So. Cal. get together!! :hi: