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Movie studios reviewing theirfire-prevention plans
Topic Started: Feb 15 2009, 01:41 PM (65 Views)
Warren
Administrator
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Movie studios reviewing their fire-prevention plans

Sunday's fire at Universal Studios Hollywood is prompting other film studios to re-evaluate their strategies. Some have already been taking preventive measures over the years.
By Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
12:34 PM PDT, June 3, 2008
The fire at Universal Studios Hollywood is serving as a wake-up call for movie production facilities across Southern California, which are reviewing their fire-prevention plans.

With highly flammable heavy timber, close quarters and constant construction, movie studios are considered especially vulnerable for fires. Universal has seen a half-dozen major fires in its history, two of which -- including Sunday's blaze -- burned New York backdrops.

"I can assure you that every single major studio is taking a look at their facilities right now," said Burbank Fire Capt. Ron Bell, whose department handles the Warner Bros. and Disney lots, among others.

Bell, a veteran of studio fires, said the Universal blaze was the biggest he'd seen. "This is an eye-opener."

County officials said they are planning to produce a report that will look at the Universal blaze as well as lessons that can be applied by other studios around the Los Angeles area. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said he was concerned about a lack of water pressure firefighters encountered when dealing with the Universal fire and wants to make sure other studios don't face the same issues.

William Parker, a Los Angeles Fire Department inspector, said studios in recent years have markedly improved their fire prevention systems - but the risks remain.

In the 13 years he's worked in the department's film unit, studios have added fire lanes, improved training for pyrotechnicians and created special fire-watch rules. He believes the changes have resulted in fewer fires.

He noted that after a fire at Paramount studios 20 years ago, officials started using more steel in construction of sets.

"It's a constant battle," Parker said.

In Culver City, home to the sprawling Sony studios, fire officials said they will be watching the investigation of the Universal blaze but believe they already have stricter requirement than many other jurisdictions. Fire inspector Mike McCormick said he goes to the Sony studio every day.

There have been some spectacular fires at Hollywood studios over the years.

Bell said his city has seen at least seven in the last half-century. Perhaps the biggest occurred in 1952 when fire raced through eight acres of Warner Bros. sets, destroying a soundstage, train shed and other property. Several Hollywood stars -- including Burt Lancaster and Ray Bolger -- helped fight the fire.

In 1974, another huge fire at The Burbank Studios destroyed eight acres of structures, including three soundstages and four movie sets. Antique cars and sets for Boston and New York were lost.

The Universal lot has seen several big fires, too. In 1967, street scenes used in TV and movie productions burned during a fire on Universal's back lot. In 1987, flames erupted on the "Spartacus" set at Universal Studios, destroying the three-story structure and three adjacent buildings. Three years later, a fire ravaged the back lot, forcing authorities to evacuate restaurants and theaters on the grounds and to temporarily close entrances where Republican Party faithful were trying to get to the Universal City Hilton for election night celebrations. The blaze destroyed the sets known as New York Street and an adjacent alley scene; Brownstone Street; Courthouse Square, where "Back to the Future" was filmed; the Dick Tracy Building, where the hit movie was made; and the set where "Ben Hur" was filmed.

Sunday's blaze was accidentally touched off by company employees using a blowtorch to heat asphalt roofing shingles, authorities said.

Los Angeles County fire officials said two workers and a supervisor were putting up shingles in an alley on the New York Street set. They finished at 3 a.m., spent an hour watching for any sign of fire, then took a break.

At 4:43 a.m., just as the crew was returning, a security guard saw flames and reported the fire.

The studio's theme park and adjacent CityWalk reopened Monday as the Los Angeles County Fire Department launched what Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman promised would be a "stem to stern" examination of the water-pressure problems that hampered the attack on the three-alarm blaze, which destroyed back lot sets, a video library and the "King Kong" attraction.

"The big question right now is trying to compare water available on site, off site and in the system itself with the amount of fire that the first arriving units were confronted with," Freeman said.

When the first fire engine arrived from a station on the Universal grounds four minutes after the blaze was reported, the New York Street sets were already engulfed in flames, Freeman said.

"About the equivalent of a city block of fire" greeted the first firefighters, he said. Fire officials said Sunday that some firefighters could only get 10-foot sprays from their hoses, and Yaroslavsky said water was coming out of hoses anemically.

It is unclear, Freeman said Monday, whether a heavy-duty sprinkler system installed after the 1990 back lot fire in the same area affected the water pressure. But commanders told Freeman that they had to draw water from studio ponds and run hoses to hydrants off the studio lot in the early stages of fighting the fire.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power supplies Universal with water from surrounding mains. Agency Public Affairs Director Joe Ramallo said the DWP system was supplying adequate water during the fire. But Universal, like many large commercial sites, operates and maintains its own water system once lines come on to its property.

"You're limited by the system in place on the grounds, and if it's not sufficient, you can't do any more on our side," Ramallo said. "We did everything we could to increase pressure on our end, but we were very limited because it's a private system."

Freeman said that an interdepartmental inquiry into the fire would be completed by June 13.

andrew.blankstein@latimes.com
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