According to the Associated Press, there was no disgruntled security guard involved in the Universal Studios fire this time around. Instead, the culprit responsible for the destruction of the back lot’s iconic Back to the Future clock tower set (as well as a King Kong tram tour exhibit and thousands of archived videos) was...bad luck. And possibly bad water pressure.
Workers at the studio had apparently been using a blowtorch (or blowtorches) to apply shingles to the roof of a movie set building façade, after which they waited around for an hour (per standard operating procedure) to make sure that nothing, y'know, caught fire and, uh...hold on, let me read that again...they were applying shingles to fake buildings with blowtorches? As opposed to...oh, I dunno...nails?
Hey, look, I’m no contractor...and I put together my parents’ garage door opener with a flamethrower, so what the heck do I know?
But, just so I’m clear on this: standard operating procedure is to apply shingles with a blowtorch, then stand around in the middle of the night for an hour to make sure the whole place doesn’t burn down? Sounds a little obtuse if you ask me...kinda like those poor bastards in March of the Penguins waddling 100 miles from the nearest source of food to mate, then standing in the middle of a blizzard balancing eggs on their flippers like contestants in some weird sadistic Japanese game show instead of just...y’know...mating near the food.
Anyway, the upshot is Universal had copies of all the videos that were destroyed, and the studio's devastated backlot New York streetscape, previously destroyed in the 1990 blaze and rebuilt, will now be rebuilt again (presumably with more garish, overpriced Trump slums, souvenir shops and Applebees).
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Michael Freeman said low water pressure hindered efforts to battle the flames, but the blaze was nevertheless contained well enough that Universal was able to reopen its theme park on Monday, and “tourists on the park's tram ride applauded firefighters as they drove past.” (Awwww!)
Yes...firemen RULE! (And, fortunately, none were seriously injured in the blaze.) Now, c'mon, kids...who's up for Backdraft?
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