Luton Airport fire: Tens of thousands of passengers disrupted as flights resume
Luton Airport has reopened after a vehicle fire caused a car park to collapse, sparking disruption for tens of thousands of passengers.
The Bedfordshire airport suspended flights from when the fire happened at around 9pm on Tuesday until 3pm on Wednesday.
PA news agency analysis of flight data websites found at least 150 flights due to take off or land at the airport were cancelled.
A further 27 arrivals were diverted to airports as far away as Cardiff, Liverpool and Manchester, while many other flights were delayed.
The figures suggest more than 30,000 passengers suffered disruption to their journeys.
Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said it received a report of a car fire on level three of the airport’s Terminal Car Park 2 at 8.47pm.
Some 15 fire appliances and more than 100 firefighters were deployed.
Three firefighters and a member of airport staff were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, and another firefighter was treated at the scene.
Andrew Hopkinson, chief fire officer for Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “On arrival my officers were faced with a severe and rapidly spreading fire involving a large number of vehicles that ultimately spread to multiple floors and involved a partial collapse of the car park.”
He said the car park does not have sprinklers, and if it did they “may have made a positive impact”.
The fire chief added: “We are already talking to the airport about ensuring that any future, and the existing, car parks have sprinklers fitted.”
Hopkinson said up to 1,500 vehicles were inside the car park at the time of the fire.
The blaze is believed to have started with a diesel-powered vehicle “and then that fire has quickly and rapidly spread”, he said.
There is no suggestion that the blaze occurred intentionally.
AA technical expert Greg Carter said the most common cause of car fires is an electrical fault with the 12-volt battery system.
He added that diesel is “much less flammable” than petrol, and in a car it takes “intense pressure or sustained flame” to ignite diesel.
A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers said drivers with fire damage are covered by comprehensive and third-party fire and theft policies.
He added it is “too early to estimate the insured cost of the fire”.
A temporary ramp is being installed at the car park to enable undamaged vehicles to be removed.
Footage posted on social media showed flames and smoke tearing through cars.
Press Association reporters