Hundreds of cars destroyed in major fire at Luton Airport car park

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service responded to the fire at Luton Airport where hundreds of cars were parked in the terminal 2 car park. Fire control received the first call about the fire at 8.47pm on Tuesday 10 October. Within three hours, the service declared it a major incident as over 100 firefighters, 15 fire appliances and three specialist aerial appliances where deployed through the night.

They were aided by assistance from neighbouring fire and rescue services as well as Bedfordshire Police and East of England Ambulance Service.

The service confirmed said that the severe fire ‘spread rapidly through the structure and the severity of the fire caused significant structural collapse.’ Crews worked to extinguish the fire and prevent it from spreading to other buildings at the airport.

By morning, the service reported that it had controlled and extinguished the fire, posting photographs of the burnt out shell. The incident was downgraded by late morning. Flights to and from the airport were suspended until 3pm on Wednesday.

Chief Fire Officer Andy Hopkinson was asked about the cause of the fire. According to reporting by ITVX, he said it was thought to have started with a diesel vehicle.

“We don’t believe it was an electric vehicle. It’s believed to be diesel-powered, and at this stage it is all subject to verification.”

He added that a sprinkler system could have helped control the fire, but the car park did not have one.

He also confirmed that four firefighters had been treated in hospital for smoke inhalation but had since been discharged.