Universal Studios struck by fire

Firefighters on Sunday battled a blaze at Hollywood's famed Universal Studios that ravaged some of the legendary film studio's most iconic stage sets and tourist attractions.

The raging fire at Universal City's backlot destroyed various soundstages and a streetscape depicting New York City, causing tens of millions of US dollars worth of damage.

Flames topped 30 meters (yards), fed by propane gas from ruptured cannisters at the site of the conflagration. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, officials said.

A column of thick black smoke rose from the fire at Universal City, some 15 kilometers (nine miles) north of Los Angeles, home of Universal Studios' amusement park as well as its working movie and television studios.

"As I walked out this morning ... it looked like a bomb exploded in the San Fernando Valley," Los Angeles councilman Tom LaBonge said Sunday, after surveying damage wrought by the massive fire.

Three firefighters were injured battling the blaze, according to officials, as several helicopters dropped water on the blaze early Sunday.

Los Angeles County Fire Department chief Michael Freeman said that more than 400 firefighters were trying to extinguish the fire.

Firefighters also were trying to keep the fire from spreading eastward to the bucolic Los Angeles retreat Griffith Park, where officials feared thick brush and vegetation could further feed the blaze.

The first reports of the blaze, which required helicopters and hundreds of firefighters to contain, came at 4:45 am (1145 GMT).

"It began in the backlot area on New York street," Freeman told reporters. "It moved through that area very fast."

County fire inspector Darryl Jacobs said firefighters ran out of water at least twice while fighting the fire.

"There was an issue with water, but that has been rectified. They are shuttling water in," Jacobs said.

Freeman said that one popular attraction at Universal City, the King Kong exhibit, was completely destroyed.

Other reported casualties from the blaze were movie sets from classic films like "Back to the Future," "The War of the Worlds," "Ben-Hur" and "Psycho.

The fire also consumed the set from the current hit television program "Desperate Housewives."

A video vault containing tens of thousands of videos and reels was also totally destroyed, although Universal Studios CEO Ron Meyer said its main archive did not suffer irreversible losses.

"The video library was affected and damaged, but our main vault with the motions pictures negatives was not," Meyer told reporters.

"Nothing irreplaceable is lost," he said. "We were very lucky. It's a bad situation, but it could have been a lot worse."