A major fire has ripped through a historic hot air balloon hangar at a former air base in Southern California, where several TV shows and movies have been filmed, including “Pearl Harbor” and “Star Trek.”
The fire broke out about 1 a.m. Tuesday at the Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin, according to the Orange County Fire Authority, which posted dramatic video of the giant landmark burning.
No injuries were immediately reported.
Sections of the roof collapsed to the ground as dozens of firefighters took up positions outside the hangers, which are usually empty, NBC Los Angeles reported.
The structure, also known as Hangar 1, was still burning hours later.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
“It’s definitely not a normal fire, but today due to the complex fire operation, our incident commander decided that they would use a helicopter along with a truck company,” said fire Captain Thanh Nguyen, according to KTLA.
Chinook helicopters are usually used to fight forest fires.
A fire breaks out in a historic hot air balloon hangar at a former air base in Orange County, California.OCFA PIO Firefighters try to put out a fire in Hangar 1.OCFA PIO
“Our firefighters are outside [the hangar] and they place their units where it is most beneficial to get water into the structure. Then, if the building collapses, they are not in the line of fire,” he added.
The fire also risks spreading to the second blimp hangar.
The twin hangars — which are 17 stories high, more than 1,000 feet long and about 300 feet wide — are two of the largest freestanding wooden structures in the world and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, according to KTLA.
Part of the landmark’s roof collapsed in the fire. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
They have been on Warner Avenue since World War II and were the home port of a dozen blimps used for submarine patrols and later helicopters before being decommissioned in 1999.
Several blockbuster movies and top TV shows have been filmed in the hangar, including “Pearl Harbor, “Star Trek,” “JAG” and “The X Files,” NBC LA reported.
Additionally, the Tustin Hangar 5K race was held there.
“It’s a sad day for the city of Tustin, for all of Orange County,” Orange County Fire Chief Brian Fennessy told reporters.
Several movies and TV shows have been filmed in the hangar including “Star Trek” and “Pearl Harbor.” Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Seventy firefighters with 11 engines and five fire trucks responded, along with a helicopter, the LA Times reported.
“That’s unheard of,” Fennessy said of using an air source. “But we thought we’d throw in everything we could just in case we could stop it midway.”
Debbie Baker, 70, was awakened at about 1:30 a.m. by the sound of a helicopter flying over her nearby home.
No injuries were immediately reported by authorities.Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
“It’s very sad. For years the hangar welcomed us home. That’s what makes this community special,” he told the newspaper, his voice breaking with emotion.
The hangar, erected by the military in 1942 as part of the now-defunct Tustin Naval Air Station, was built mostly from Oregon Douglas fir, according to the LA Times.
Metal salts are used in wood as a fire retardant.
Tustin Mayor Austin Lumbard said many residents have a personal connection to the hangar by working at the base.
“This is not the end for what we call the envisioned northern hangar,” Lumbard told the LA Times. “It’s not the dignified treatment it deserves.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
