Universal Studios blaze started by workers

This video was taken from the rooftop of the Curious George parking lot at around 8am. At the time, I had no idea what was on fire, so I just stood and watched the smoke billow, never realizing that bits of King Kong were working their way into my lungs.

Yenvious has contributed a photo to this story.

Universal Studios Barham entrance around 10 a.m. on Sunday, June 1, 2008. People were jumping out of their cars and taking pictures with their camera phones. No one was sure what was going on, but no one seemed concerned. After all, this is L.A. and strange things happen.

ButterflyThunder has contributed a photo to this story.

We were awoken by the numerous helicopters flying overhead on Sunday. Went outside to see a huge plume of smoke from the direction of Universal Studios and drifting over the valley. The sound of helicopters was noticeable all day yesterday and even this morning. Smoke wasn't noticeable at our place, but was much worse right down the street in Toluca Lake. This was one nasty fire, lasted a long time, but firefighters dodged a bullet that the wind wasn't that bad. Those nearby hills are very dry...

patgod has contributed a photo to this story.

Thank you all for your photo contributions and taking the time to comment; glad nobody was hurt and that they were able to localize the fire to minimize damages.

Sadly any fire that breaks out in the center of the lot is trouble. If hoses cannot be stretched from Lankershim Blvd. Or Lakeside Drive the horrible water pressure within the studio will attribute to the loss.  I have witnessed every reported fire on the lot since 1987 and each time they were able to save the courthouse square. Not this time. It's sad to think a year from now families will never know this happened as they are lied to by the revisionist history that is spouted by the underpaid tour guides. I guess it is not that exciting to say "Frankenstein's monster made his first appearance under an archway that looked a lot like this rebuilt one." Or " To your left is the set from THE STING. Well... a replica of an approximation of the set." I have to say the smell of this fire was horrible. A biting leaded acidic smell that just made your eyes water.  It is a wonder that no one was hurt.  Sets are not like standard structures and the firefighters cannot fight them in the usual manner.  All the firefighters from yesterdays blaze should be commended. It is a hellish place to fight a fire.

I have a friend in Pennsylvania who e-mailed me early the morning of the Universal Studios fire. She heard about it in the news back east and wanted to know if it was near us. My husband and I ran out to the front of our house and saw the plume of dark smoke rising up out of the distance over our neighbor's roof. We live in Glendale up toward the Verdugo foothills and so we often get a view of smoke plumes from fires in the Hollywood hills (there were flakes of ash dropping into our yard during the Griffith Park fire). This time the wind blew the Universal Studios fire smoke away from us, but hours later even the blue sky here would be covered over with the same dun-colored particulate haze that settled over the rest of the San Fernando Valley.

Redzenradish has contributed a photo to this story.

Employees weren't fully aware of what was going on. At around 9:10 AM, we asked if the park was open and they told us that it was. We took a wrong turn in valet parking and had to go around to get back to regular parking. When we were about to make a U turn, an SUV was already blocking the entrance to the park and the staff member told us the park would open at noon. We went back at 11:45 AM and they told us to come back at 12:30 PM because of the "mountain fire." The park didn't open that day.

V for Viewer has contributed a photo to this story.

The still morning air was alive with the sounds of emergency vehicles, and walking onto the street, this dramatic angle from along side SR101, with the NBC/Universal building in the foreground, was a foreboding sight.

ShockDocCA has contributed a photo to this story.

Picture was taken around 12 pm. Smoke keep rising over the hill and you can clearly see the dark smoke from miles away caused by the Universal Studio Fire.

emosfet has contributed a photo to this story.

This is an example of ironic and only slightly unfortunate automated ad placement on a web site.

The live video stream of the fire at Universal Studios was playing diagonally next to an advertisement for the very complex that was ablaze.

This happens frequently as so much of 'webvertising' is bot-programmed. It can happen when handled by human beings too.

Just today in the Vancouver Province, a newspaper article written by the talented Ed Willis paying tribute to Luc Bordon - a local hockey player who died last week when his Suzuki motorcyle crashed head-on into a semi-trailer - appeared diagonally across from an ad for Jim Pattison Suzuki dealership. The ad showed a picture of a motorbike in the same line as the one involved in the crash.

greggscott has contributed a photo to this story.

This is'nt the first time an accidental fire has ravaged the Universal Studios back lot. It happened in 1990 as well.

Noe M. Torres has contributed a photo to this story.