Massive Fire Destroys Portion Of Universal Studios

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — A massive fire Sunday at Universal Studios destroyed the building housing the King Kong exhibit and damaged a video library vault, officials said.

The fire is still burning at the video vault, Los Angeles Fire Chief Douglas Barry said. Firefighters have contained the blaze, but not extinguished it, officials said.

Ron Meyer, the studio’s president, said the motion picture vault was not affected.

Meyer also said a courthouse square set used in several movies, including “Back to the Future,” was destroyed.

More than 400 Los Angeles-area firefighters are battling the fire in a backlot of Universal Studios, which is adjacent to the theme park.

A plume of gray smoke clouded the skies above Universal Studios more than three hours after the fire broke out early Sunday.

At least four or five structures were damaged or destroyed by the three-alarm blaze, a fire official told reporters on the scene.

The massive fire prompted officials to move back the studio theme park’s opening time from 9 a.m. to noon PT (3 p.m. ET), a Los Angeles city councilman said.

The studio tour will be affected by the blaze, according to a statement from Eliot Sekuler, vice president of Universal Studios Hollywood.

The 2008 MTV Movie Awards, scheduled to be broadcast live from the park Sunday afternoon, will not be affected, an MTV representative said.

The blaze began around 4:45 a.m. PT (7:45 a.m. ET) Sunday. Two “prop” buildings, a chapel, and a popular ride called the “Cyclone” were among the damaged structures, according to Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Frank Reynoso.

Television footage showed the fire burning through the roofs of structures and continuing to blaze hours later.

“It will be awhile before we have it under control,” Reynoso said.

Firefighters were attacking the large blaze by helicopters. Watch footage of copters trying to douse the huge fire »

“We don’t know what the cause of this is,” Reynoso said.

There were reports of an explosion shortly after the fire broke out, he said.

Reynoso said he heard reports that filming may have been going on when the fire broke out.

The park is just north of downtown Los Angeles.