Hollywood PlagueWatch: 'Evan Almighty' Stage Consumed By Fire

Because we at Defamer at committed to keeping you informed of any disaster, whether man-made or natural in origin, currently besetting your peers, we pass along these two reports of the raging fire possibly still in progress over on the Universal lot:

· "Universal Stage 27, where they have been shooting Evan Almighty for the last few months, is on fire. They have four ladders up against the building and there are at least 15 firemen axing, chainsawing and extinguishing the barn doors. This is also the stage Tom Cruise always uses, and I'm sure there is some symbolism there but I am too smoke-logged to think of it."

· "I got out on the lot to find (on my count) seven fire truck clustered around Stages 22 and 28. The trucks were labeled LAFD, Burbank FD, and, in one case, FDNY. (Odd.) No one on the ground knew what was going on, though one guy said he saw them sprayed water with their hoses. Anyway, I found out eventually a welder on Stage 27 set off a fire and burned up an entire door."

Sure, a welder's unfortunate error is a completely plausible explanation for the conflagration, but we won't completely rule out the possibility that God Himself sparked the blaze, hoping that an unanticipated setback of this scale might help the producers of a movie inspired by one of His favorite Bible stories reach their goal of making The Most Expensive Comedy Story Ever Told.

As always, your updates and cameraphone photography of short-sighted studio personnel trying to extinguish the Creator's latest Hollywood Miracle are appreciated. Developing...

[Photo: TheStudioTour.com]