Westworld Location at Paramount Ranch Burns Down

Fire Destroys Major TV Location

♦ The terrible fire in Los Angeles which has caused so much damage and claimed a number of lives has also destroyed a major TV location. Variety has the details…

The historic Western town area at Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills, Calif., where productions including Westworld have shot, burned down Friday in the Woolsey fire, according to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation area’s Twitter feed.

Westworld uses the Western town set to shoot its Main Street scenes. The HBO series is also shot at the Melody Ranch in Santa Clarita and in Utah and other locations.

We are sorry to share the news that the #WoolseyFire has burned Western Town at #ParamountRanch in Agoura. We do not have any details or photos, but it is our understanding that the structures have burned. This area is an active part of the incident and we cannot access it. pic.twitter.com/oC4n7KR8ZT

— Santa Monica Mtns (@SantaMonicaMtns) November 9, 2018

HBO said in a statement, “Paramount Ranch was one of the locations used during seasons one and two of Westworld, in addition to the primary location at Melody Ranch in Santa Clarita. Westworld is not currently in production, and as the area has been evacuated, we do not yet know the extent of the damage to any structures remaining there. Most importantly, our thoughts go out to all those affected by these horrible fires.”

Now part of the National Park Service and open to the public, the ranch has been the site of numerous productions throughout the years and was first started by Paramount Pictures in 1927. Among the films that shot at the ranch were Caught in the Draft with Bob Hope, The Lake House with Sandra Bullock, and TV shows including “The Mentalist,” Weeds and Quickdraw.

Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman shot there from 1992 to 1997. Before the area was a public park, it was used for car racing in the 1950s as the Paramount Raceway, which was portrayed in the film The Devil’s Hairpin.

The Malibu, Calabasas and Agoura areas are all under evacuation due to the fast-moving Woolsey fire, and numerous entertainment figures have been forced to leave the area, battling massive traffic jams. As of noon on Friday, the fire was moving into the Malibu area, where numerous valuable properties are constructed on the bone-dry, brush-covered hills.

Sad for fans of @WestworldHBO and shows like Dr Quinn Medicine Woman, the Paramount Ranch western town movie set has burned to the ground in the Woolsey Fire @CBSLA #westworld #Woolseyfire pic.twitter.com/DhZWaGbr6g

— John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) November 9, 2018

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