A fire on the back lot of Universal Studios breaks out, destroying the attraction King Kong Encounter and a large archive of master tapes for music and film, the full extent of which was not revealed until 2019.

On June 1, 2008, a fire broke out on the backlot of Universal Studios Hollywood, an American film studio and theme park in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County, California. The fire began when a worker used a blowtorch to warm asphalt shingles that were being applied to a facade. The worker left before checking that all spots had cooled, and as a result, a three-alarm fire broke out. Nine firefighters and a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy sustained minor injuries. The fire was extinguished after 24 hours.

King Kong was an attraction formerly part of the Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles. The attraction was based on the 1976 King Kong film and served as a basis for a stand-alone Kongfrontation, a former attraction at Universal Studios Florida. The scene, located amongst the New York Street backlot sets in the heart of the studios, was destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios fire and was replaced by King Kong: 360 3-D, which was opened on July 1, 2010.