Smoke rages from the fire at Universal City in California on Sunday. (Reuters)

Los Angeles, June 1 (Reuters): A massive fire broke out on the backlot of Universal City today, engulfing one soundstage and burning several sets.

A total of 400 firefighters from several Los Angeles-area fire departments were battling the blaze, said LA county fire inspector Sam Padilla, adding that three firefighters were being treated for minor injuries.

Padilla said the fire had been contained to a single structure, the King Kong exhibit, by 9am (US time) and he predicted the fire would be “knocked down” within hours.

“A total of five structures within the New York exhibit, including one soundstage, were lost,” said another LA county fire inspector, Frank Garrido, who added that the blaze had started in the backlot area depicting New York City, which was destroyed.

He said about three-quarters of a building housing a King Kong exhibit was destroyed. A building that holds a video vault of original and master versions of old movies had been destroyed and the vault itself had been “compromised”.

Ron Meyer, the president of Universal Studios, said, however, that “nothing irreplaceable was lost” in the video vault.

The exact monetary damage had not yet been fully assessed.

Garrido said the studio’s theme park and popular City Walk shopping centre would be open today, although tours to the backlot, where the fire occurred, had been cancelled.

Television coverage showed trucks with water cannons dousing flames from one soundstage, and smoke poured into the air causing a haze that blanketed parts of west Los Angeles and the Hollywood area.

Los Angeles county fire inspector Darryl Jacobs said the blaze was first reported around 4:45am (US time), but it was not immediately clear what started the fire.

Building facades meant to look like New York City were charred, and several acres on the 230-acre backlot were burning at one point in the early morning hours.

Eliot Sekular, a spokesperson for Universal Studios, said damage was confined mostly to the backlot of the studio where movies and TV shows are shot and not to the adjoining theme park.

Universal has been the home of numerous movies over its long history in Hollywood, including modern-day blockbusters such as Jaws and Back to the Future. Director Steven Spielberg houses his production company on the lot.

Los Angeles county and city firefighters encountered some explosions from propane tanks as they fought the fire, and at one point firefighters ran into water pressure issues on parts of the studio lot, Jacobs said.

“There was an issue with water, but that has been rectified,” he said.

Helicopters had been brought in to drop water.

Universal Studios, operated by NBC Universal Inc, is a unit of General Electric Co. The film and TV studio is a sister company to the NBC broadcast network, but NBC’s main offices are housed in a separate location in nearby Burbank.