Fire at Tyler Perry’s studios

Atlanta fire officials say they have put out a 4-alarm blaze at filmmaker Tyler Perry’s studio that damaged a building at the complex.
Atlanta Fire Department spokesman Capt. Jolyon Bundrige says there were no reports of injuries from the fire that started before 9 p.m. Tuesday at Tyler Perry Studios. Officials said in a news release it was extinguished about an hour later.
He says the cause of the fire and the amount of damage to the complex was not immediately known.
A spokesman for Perry didn’t immediately comment Tuesday evening. The studio’s website says the complex includes a 200.000-square-foot studio, five sound stages and a 400-seat theater in southwest Atlanta.
In March – pop star Cee Lo performed for donors at a fundraiser for President Barack Obama at the studios.

Fire at Tyler Perry's studios
Tyler Perry.

A multiple-alarm fire broke out Tuesday night in a building at the Tyler Perry Studios in southwest Atlanta, a fire official told CNN.
It was subsequently extinguished, but firefighters were still checking the area for hotspots. It was not immediately clear what started the blaze.
One building partially collapsed – said Captain J.L. Bundrige with the Atlanta Fire Department. The fire was reported at 8:54 p.m., he said.
There were no reports of injuries.
The studios sit on 60 acres and include five sound stages, a 5-acre pond, a theater, a chapel, a commissary, a gymnasium, Perry’s office, an art department where sets are designed, hair and makeup facilities, a wardrobe department, set decoration, a post-production facility and a backlot named 34th Street, “as in Miracle on 34th Street” – according to a video posted on the studio’s website.
Perry’s credits include work as director, writer, producer, actor and playwright.
His TV shows “Meet the Browns” and “House of Payne” are huge moneymakers, as are Perry’s wildly popular movies.
Last year, Perry topped Forbes’ “Entertainment’s Highest-Paid Men” list, raking in 130 million dollars in 12 months beginning in May 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOPDVxuT7x4

A spectacular blaze that brought a response from dozens of firefighters was quickly brought under control Tuesday night at Tyler Perry Studios in southwest Atlanta, and investigators were at the scene late into the evening seeking the cause of the fire.
“The fire’s out, but the cause remains under investigation” – Capt. Jolyon Bundrige with the Atlanta Fire Department told the AJC just before 11 p.m.
Firefighters were able to contain the blaze to one building in the center of the 30-acre complex owned by Atlanta filmmaker Perry – Bundrige said.
The first report of a fire came in at 8:41 p.m., and before it was over, more than 100 firefighters had responded to a blaze that quickly escalated to four alarms.
The fascia of the affected building collapsed, but its structural integrity was not compromised, Bundrige said. No injuries were reported.
Though the flames were extinguished within an hour, many firefighters remained for several hours putting out hot spots. Several units were still there around midnight conducting a damage assessment, including salvage and overhaul.
Perry was at his Continental Colony Parkway complex Tuesday night and spoke with Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran, but did not talk to reporters gathered nearby – Bundrige said. Employees leaving the studio grounds after the fire told reporters they were instructed not to speak to the media.
Efforts were being made to reach a spokesman for the studio.
Dorothy Ware, a resident of the Asbury Harris Epworth Towers senior housing apartments next door, said she first learned of the fire from a guard who came around to alert residents.
The guard told anyone who had cars parked along the fence next to the studios to move their vehicles so fire engines could get in, Ware said. She went outside and described the scene.
“It was all in flames” – she said. “The building started popping. Whatever the fire was hitting, was blowing up. There were plenty of sparks coming over here where we are.”
The flames shot as high as the nearby trees, roughly six stories in height – she said.

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