Tourists at Studio Escape Tram Before It Bursts Into Flames

A tour group from Japan was hustled off a smoking tram at Universal Studios shortly before the vehicle burst into flames and ignited part of a building Monday morning.

No one was hurt in the fire, which engulfed the gasoline-powered tram and damaged a facade on a faux livery stable and a nearby golf cart, Universal Studios spokesman Jim Yeager said.

The tour group was on a “VIP” tour of the Western section of the studios’ back lot when park supervisors traveling in a separate van noticed smoke wafting from the tram’s right rear wheel and alerted the driver, Yeager and Los Angeles County firefighter Cesar Alvarez said.

The tourists and the driver got off, and “slowly the smoke got worse and worse and ultimately engulfed [the tram],” Yeager said.

The fire spread when the burning tram rolled a few feet backward and hit the building.

The tourists were, by that time, some distance away heading for another tram but probably got an eyeful nonetheless, he added.

Firefighters called to the scene extinguished the blaze in about 10 minutes, said Alvarez, who estimated that the fire caused $150,000 in damages to the tram, $100,000 in damages to the building and $6,000 in damages to the golf cart.