Hundreds of vehicles have been damaged or destroyed after a fire ripped through a parking garage at Luton Airport in the UK last Tuesday evening, prompting flight delays for most of the day.
The fire is believed to have broken out on level three of the multi-story parking garage. Footage shared online reveals that the blaze started with a Range Rover, reportedly a diesel version. The woman who filmed the Range Rover on fire says a fire extinguisher was used to try and put out the flames but the SUV exploded before witnesses could retrieve a fire extinguisher from another floor.
The blaze started at approximately 8:45 p.m. local time and quickly spread. While speaking to BBC News immediately after the fire, Bedfordshire chief fire officer Andy Hopkinson said there was no evidence to suggest that the fire was “anything other than an accidental fire.” He noted that the parking garage did not appear to have sprinklers installed and added that the site’s open sides would have allowed the fire to spread quickly.
Over 100 local firefighters responded to the blaze and many flights scheduled to Luton had to be diverted to Cardiff, Manchester, and Liverpool. Footage shared online by Lad Bible shows that at one stage, a fireball ripped through the parking garage and prompted a partial collapse of one of the floors.
While speaking with the BBC at the time of the fire, the chair of Luton Rising which owns the airport, described the response as a “major operation.”
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“We are working extremely closely with the operator to ensure it’s business as usual for the airport as quickly as possible,” he said. “Disruption is likely to continue until traveling to the airport becomes normal again and passengers should check with their airline.”
A full investigation of the fire is ongoing but Hopkinson added that the fire may have been started by an electrical fault with the Range Rover’s 12-volt battery system. Despite this explanation, many social media users took to X to make unsubstantiated claims that the fire was triggered by an EV, The Autopian reports.