Fire at Universal

Kerm, you're being cute and all, but if you wouldn't mind reading...

Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge said he also heard about the water-pressure problems.

"If this was a neighborhood, they would have had a higher requirement for water pressure," he said this morning, standing outside the studio gates. "That's a big issue."

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials said the agency supplies Universal, but the park runs its own water system. DWP spokesman Joe Ramallo said the agency tried to boost water pressure there for firefighters after being alerted about 80 minutes after the fire broke out at 4:45 a.m., but it "had a negligible effect."

"We can only make changes on our system," he said, referring to the hydrant system. "And we had no loss of supply from our end."

So to reiterate, no sympathy for Universal here.

I could be wrong, but doesn't Disneyworld operate this way just outside Orlanda proper for tax exemption reasons?

I know Disneyland, love 'em or hate 'em, are in Anaheim proper, albeit the very southeast corner of the city, closer to Santa Ana and Garden Grove than the rest of Anaheim (who could blame anyone for not wanting to be close to most of Anaheim?) Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if Anaheim just handed Disneyland tax exemptions outright.

Orlando, obv