A vehicle fire destroyed 1,500 vehicles in a parking garage and led to the closure of London’s Luton airport for 18 hours.
Most of us have probably parked our vehicle on occasion in a parking garage adjacent to an airport. Most of the time, the biggest worry might be theft or vandalism.
It was a whole surprise that awaited some 1,500 vehicle owners after a fire broke out in a parking garage at Luton Airport, about 60 km north of London, England. That airport is a hub for EasyJet, Ryanair and other low-cost airlines.
The blaze caused a “significant structural collapse” of the building, the Bedfordshire Fire Department estimated. The cause of the blaze was deemed accidental.
The fire broke out around 8:45 p.m. this past Tuesday local time, and no serious injuries were reported.
According to the Daily Mail, the fire broke out under the hood of a Diesel-powered Range Rover, on the third floor of a new parking garage. The flames quickly spread to other vehicles, so that in all, some 1,500 models were destroyed. Smoke caused a temporary shutdown of the airport.
Four firefighters and an airline official were treated for minor injuries related to that smoke. The number of passengers affected by the 273 flight suspensions, cancellations and diversions is estimated at 50,000.
The fire was brought under control Wednesday morning and the airport reopened in the afternoon, although airlines reported numerous delays and cancellations.
This massive vehicle fire is reminiscent of the one that damaged or destroyed some 3,500 vehicles in Florida at the start of the pandemic. In that case, idle rental vehicles had been parked in a grassy area and the intense heat of their exhaust pipes, in contact with the dry grass, had major consequences.
This kind of event is spectacular, to say the least.