Bond studio catches on fire

This afternoon around 11 a.m. (Pacific Time) a devastating fire at Pinewood studios that wrecked the place also blazed through a James Bond film set. It's reported three people that were on the Bond set escaped injury. Eyewitness Jen McVean, 27, said flames could be seen shooting through the roof of the building. Production from the movie had completed filming when the fire started and were taking down film sets.

The roof of the huge building that houses the set was burned down and left blackened and twisted. It took 60 firefighters and 90 minutes to bring this blaze under control. Fraser Pearson, of Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue, said investigations into the cause of the fire have already begun. A team of firefighters will continue damping down the building overnight. A 200m-exclusion area has been created.

Firefighters have said the welding equipment being used to dismantle the set at Pinewood Studios may have sparked the blaze. However, they insisted they were "keeping an open mind" as to what lay behind the fire. Film Company Pinewood Shepperton said damage was believed to be "significant", but filming had been completed.

In a statement, a representative for Pinewood Shepperton said, "We do not know the extent of the damage to the 007 stage, although it is believed to be significant." Fire crews are still in attendance at the site.

According to a representative for Pinewood Shepperton, this was not the first time a James Bond set at Pinewood Studios has been damaged by fire. In 1984 an explosion ripped through a corrugated steel building built in 1976 for "The Spy Who Loved Me" and subsequently used to shoot four Bond movies. The rebuilt set was reopened in January 1985 as the Albert Broccoli sound stage, named in honor of the producer of many Bond movies.

Buckinghamshire, Shepperton and Teddington are the three film studios that Pinewood and Shepperton run since they have merged together in 2001. Between the three studios they have housed many of big screen sets such as "Batman," "Superman" and "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider."