Blaze under investigation
Tyler Perry Studios went up in flames in Atlanta Tuesday evening, requiring more than 100 firefighters to respond to the scene. There have been no reported injuries, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
Firefighters were able to contain the four-alarm fire to one building in the complex since the building is broken up into sections, said Atlanta Fire Department Capt. Jolyon Bundrige. Bundrige said that the fire damaged the exterior of the building, but its structural integrity was not compromised.
“It was all in flames,” Dorothy Ware, who lives next door to Tyler Perry Studios, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The building started popping,” Ware said. “Whatever the fire was hitting, was blowing up. There were plenty of sparks coming over here where we are.”
The 30-acre complex includes a 200,000-suare-foot studio, five sound stages and a 400-seat theater, according to its website. The complex also includes a chapel, dining hall, gymnasium, five-acre pond and a back lot for filming street scenes. It also has an art department and a post-production facility.
Forbes reported a statement from Tyler Perry. “We are grateful that there were no injuries, and that 99 percent of the damage is limited to the backlot facade. Mr. Perry wishes to express his heartfelt thanks to the Atlanta fire department for their professionalism in their quick response and limiting the damage.”
Tyler Perry has worked successfully as a director, writer, producer, actor and playwright, with movies such as Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Why Did I Get Married? and television shows, including Tyler Perry’s House of Payne and For Better or Worse. Forbes’ “Entertainment’s Highest-Paid Men” list ranked Perry at number 1, taking in $130 million in 12 months beginning in May 2010.
