Tyler Perry can now breathe a sigh of relief after firefighters extinguished a massive fire that took place at the filmmaker’s sprawling southwestern Atlanta studio complex, Tuesday (May 1). At 8:41 p.m. firefighters responded to calls of a blaze at Tyler Perry Studios, with a reported 100 firefighters, 13 trucks and 12 engines on the scene.
The four-alarm scorcher was stomped out just over an hour after the first responding team arrived, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report.
Officials remained on the scene until this morning, as crews conducted damage assessments and investigated the possible causes of the fire. Nearby residents of a neighboring senior-living complex reported explosions and other pyrotechnics, before fire crews arrived. “It was all in flames,” said Dorothy Ware of the Asbury Harris Epworth Towers. “The building started popping. Whatever the fire was hitting was blowing up. There were plenty of sparks coming over here where we are.”
None of the studio staff were harmed in the fire, although crews did say a building collapsed. The quick action of the firefighters helped to contain the blaze to just one building and, because of its construction, only the exterior suffered any real damage. A spokesperson for Tyler Perry Studios issued a statement regarding the fire.
“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,” read part of the statement.
Perry has been in the news as of late for accusing police officers of racial profiling when he was pulled over at his studio, and received support from the likes of David Banner for turning his love of cross-dressing into a multi-million dollar empire. If the blaze was part of a conspiracy to bring down Tyler Perry’s Hollywood regime and giving the studio a well-deserved fade, those plans have been thwarted.
Unfortunately, the blaze didn’t burn up Madea’s wigs and dresses as a new film featuring Perry as the madam of mischief, Madea’s Witness Protection, hits theaters this June.
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Photo: Metrolic
