What is the story behind the giant blimp hangars in Tustin?
A massive fire damaged one of two historic blimp hangars located on the former Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Tustin in Orange County Tuesday morning.
The wooden hangars were originally built in 1942 to store large blimps that the U.S. Navy used to patrol the southern California coastline for enemy submarines during WWII.
The buildings were decommissioned in 1949 after the blimp base was no longer needed. In 1951, the facility was reactivated during the Korean War and it was the country's first air facility developed solely for helicopter operations, according to the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command.
By the 1990s, the base was a major center for Marine Corps helicopter aviation on the Pacific Coast and its primary purpose was to support services and material for the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.
Both hangars are 17 stories tall, over 1,000 feet long and 300 feet wide.
The hangars are listed as two of the largest wooden structures to ever be built in the world and they are classified as historic civil engineering landmarks in the United States.
The historic hangars have been featured in multiple television shows and films, including "JAG," "The X Files," "Austin Powers," "Pearl Harbor" and "Star Trek." They are also used for special events.
