Fire rages through Universal backlot

A massive fire swept through Universal Studios Hollywood today, destroying The Back to the Future Courthouse, and damaging the clock tower from the same movie and the King Kong Exhibit. The fire also destroyed three blocks of the New York City Street facades and the town used by the CBS series The Ghost Whisperer.

Roughly 40,000 to 50,000 videos and reels were in the video vault, but there are duplicates stored in a different location, said Ron Meyer, NBC Universal president and chief operating officer, so nothing irreplaceable was lost. No actual films prints were lost.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, and no initial damage estimates were given.

In 1990, a fire broke out on a Universal lot. During that event, Santa Ana winds were instrumental in the overwhelming damage done to the New York Street facades. That particular blaze was ruled as arson. The 1990 blaze resulted in more than $50 million in damage and required a major undertaking to rebuild each of the sets.

OBS, Birthday and a fire

Yesterday was long, starting with continued filming of the feature-length Hidden Frontier episode, Operation Beta Shield. Summer returned this past weekend, and with Rob's air conditioner on the frits -though it started off great - the heat made the studio very warm, despite the fact we no longer use the hot, burning lights anymore.

After the shoot, we hemmed and hawed about going out to Planet Hollywood at Universal City Walk for Star Trek: Odyssey star Brandon McConnell's 26th birthday. But we all -Stephen, Rob, Beo and I - eventually went. It was a blast, with most people associated with HF Productions throwing the handsome star a birthday to remember.

While I had one drink, many of those guys had way to many. Poor Brandon, having all these lovely girls of HF dancing around him. He's got a girlfriend, but apparently ("it's complicated," the way I've heard it described) they don't do these things together. He's extremely hot, and I don't blame them. And while he's a southern boy born and raised, he's slowly starting to see that not all gay men are the stereotypes we're made out to be. This was his first real social gathering with us, and I hope this means he'll feel more comfortable with the cast and crew, plus playing Ro on Odyssey, the first Star Trek -official or fan - to have an openly gay character as captain of a starship.

Finally, on the way back to the studios in Pasadena, I noticed an orange glow on the horizon. I thought it was odd, but thought not to mention it to anyone else. I thought right off that there was a fire buring in the hills, but this was not the "normal" time of year for them.

As I headed home on the 210, I saw the orange glow again, and then I realized I was right. There hills around the city of Arcadia and Sierra Madre were on fire. It was surreal, as I've yet to get real close to a wildfire since moving here. I saw it on TV, but it was never close to where I traveled.

So here I was, on the freeway, trying to drive and watch the fire. Lucky it was nearly 1 am and the roads where empty, somewhat. My guess, since this fire broke out yesterday afternoon, had I left the studios any sooner, I would've been caught in some crikey traffic.

Most of the fire has consumed brush in an area known for hiking, though it's close to some homes. Some of those foothill areas, however, have not burned for 40 years.

Today it remains hot (its 97 at 4pm), and very dry. The winds are light, but even these are not welcome when fighting wildfires.

I hope this is not a prelude to another summer of 100-plus heat and the fire that seems to follow it.

fire

Fire and heat; Welcome to LA in March

It was like summer here today, as the heat came full on today, adding a mighty wind. This, appears, to be the cause of a wildfire sweeping through Orange County today, destroying two homes and threatening more.

If it start this early, were bound to have a very hot summer. And since the winter -which ends 1 week fronm Tuesday has produced very little rain, this summer could also be the worst for firefighters. As is, this winter is offically the dryest EVER.

Let's keep our fingers crossed, folks.