Fire at Tyler Perry studio investigated

Investigators were trying yesterday to find the cause of a fire that ripped through a simulated streetscape at Tyler Perry's Atlanta studios, sending flames soaring into the night sky, The Associated Press reports.

There were no reports of injuries from the blaze that began shortly before 9 p.m. Tuesday and burned through the exterior facade of a large building, Atlanta Fire Capt. Jolyon Bundrige said.

"It was all in flames," Dorothy Ware, who lives in a high-rise apartment next door to the studio complex, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The studio said Perry thanked Atlanta firefighters for their quick response and limiting the damage.

"We are grateful that there were no injuries, and that 99 percent of the damage is limited to the backlot facade," the statement said.

However, there was some water damage inside, Bundrige told AP yesterday.

Perry -- whose films include "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," "Why Did I Get Married?" and "Daddy's Little Girls" -- was at the complex Tuesday night and spoke with Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran.

The studio complex includes a 200,000-square-foot studio, five sound stages and a 400-seat theater in southwest Atlanta, according to its website.

The complex also includes a chapel, dining hall, gymnasium, an art department and a postproduction facility where work on TV shows such as "Meet the Browns" was done.