UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. (NBC NEWS)- The Universal Studios back lot looked more like the set of a Hollywood disaster movie only this scene was real as pieces of Hollywood history went up in flames.

Fire broke out just before dawn Sunday on the street that is a replica of New York City. Flames ripped through at least two city blocks destroying the town square used in the movie "Back To the Future."

Michael Freeman, the Los Angeles County Fire Chief, says "it moved extremely fast. Those are basically building fronts with some walls. They are very susceptible to burning."

The soundstage that housed the King Kong attraction collapsed under intense heat and flames.

More than 300 firefighters worked the front lines. At least 10 people were hurt including 9 firefighters. Then a late afternoon explosion sent two people to the hospital.

Also burned, the video vault that contained thousands of TV and film classics.

Ron Meyer, the President and CEO of Universal Studios says "the video library was affected and damaged. But the main vault of our motion picture negatives was not."

Meanwhile, at the front gate thousands of park visitors were turned away.

But studio executives promise to reopen and rebuild what was lost.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Officials say damage is expected to be in the millions of dollars.