Back to the Future Burns to the Ground

This morning, June 1st, a major fire broke out on the back lot at Universal Studios. Reports are still coming in, but it appears that most of the New York brownstone set has been destroyed, as well as the King Kong drive-through attraction, and the TV video vault. Most sadly the courthouse square set used in several movies, including "Back to the Future," was destroyed. As this is my favorite movie, I was quite sad to learn about this. Every 4 or 5 years I made it to Universal and it was always a treat to see this set in person.

Movie sets are made of wood and other easily combustible materials, so over the years, Hollywood has had a history of bad fires on studio back lots. (You will notice that almost all studios have a water tower on the lot, evidence that even back in their earliest days, the studios realized the danger of fires and wanted to be ready to deal with an emergency. There is even a fire station on the studio grounds.)