Real life fire drama on set of Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron flick
The dramatic final scene of a new flick starring Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron turned a little too real when an inferno broke out on its Brooklyn set, witnesses and fire officials said Tuesday.
Jackman was among the roughly 150 people on the Brooklyn Navy Yard set as “The Greatest Showman’s’’ climatic staged fire spiraled out of control, sources said.
In a Hollywood-worthy twist, five retired firefighters working as extras sprang into action, attaching prop hoses fitted with antique-style nozzles to nearby hydrants to try to battle the blaze until roughly 100 real-life Bravest rushed to the rescue, according to an FDNY source.
“The fire was tremendous,’’ a source said of the 5 a.m. Sunday blaze. “They used too much accelerant, and the whole building burnt down.’’
No one was injured in the blaze, authorities said.
It was unclear if Efron was there at the time. A rep would say only, “He’s not hurt.”
“The Greatest Showman” is a musical biopic about P.T. Barnum, creator of the Barnum & Bailey circus.
In its final scene, which is being staged in a specially constructed building, Jackman, who plays Barnum, carries Efron, his assistant, from a burning house. The firemen extras then place him on a stretcher.
But something went wrong with the pyrotechnics Sunday, and six large lights, used to intensify the glow of the blaze, fell from the roof of the building, sparking a much bigger fire than expected, sources said.
Firefighters rushed to the set at Flushing Avenue and Navy Street but struggled to put the fire out because it had grown so huge, sources said.
“Fire was blowing out through the roof,” a fire source said. “It blew right through the roof and melted a lot of really large light fixtures on the top.”