Fire at Universal Studios

A fire at Universal Studios in Los Angeles has destroyed a vault with 40,000-50,000 videos and reels, the King Kong exhibit, and a set from Back to the Future (the courthouse square and clocktower). NBC Universal president and chief operating officer Ron Meyer said that there are duplicates of the damaged videos and reels in a different location. But the King Kong animatronic is “totally destroyed.”

There was also damage to two of eight location sets for CBS’ TV series Ghost Whisperer.

Los Angeles County fire Captain Frank Reynoso said the fire broke out on a backlot stage before dawn on June 1. The cause is under investigation. Meyer denied rumors that there had been a bomb threat, and says the studio will be back to business as usual on Monday, with the tour having started again at noon on Sunday.