Fire breaks out at Warner Bros. Studio lot near L.A.

The Warner Bros. Discovery backlot is on fire — and we don't mean that as a compliment to their output.

On Friday afternoon, reports of a fire on the historic Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, Calif., appeared on Twitter. Pictures from the street outside the lot showed large clouds of black smoke emanating from behind a soundstage.

The Burbank Fire Department confirms to EW that the incident was a transformer fire for which they received a call at approximately 1:38 p.m. PT. Public Information Officer Battalion Chief Dave Burke could not confirm reports of an explosion.

Burke tells EW the fire is now out and there were no injuries on the scene or to firefighters (we would still advise holding back those water tower jokes). NBC Los Angeles reports that the fire was contained to one building on the lot.

In recent months, Warner Bros. Discovery and its studio head, David Zaslav, have had to put out their share of metaphorical fires — from the box office disappointment of The Flash and the backlash against troubled star Ezra Miller; to Zaslav being booed at Boston University commencement in the wake of the writers' strike; to the launch of Max and the outcry about film directors, writers, and actors being lumped into a singular "creatives" box; to the gutting of the TCM leadership team prompting the need for high-profile directors Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Paul Thomas Anderson to intervene.

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