Major Fire at Luton Airport (10/10/23)

[ijmad]

The airport is currently on fire, specifically the short term car park, which I believe is right next to the DART.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The airport is currently on fire, specifically the short term car park, which I believe is right next to the DART.

Luton Airport fire: Flights resume after blaze rips through car park

Commercial flights restart after a huge fire ripped through a multi-storey car park.

www.bbc.co.uk

All flights at London Luton Airport have been suspended because of a large vehicle fire in one of its car parks.
An airport spokesperson said emergency services were responding to the blaze at Terminal Car Park 2 and that access to the airport was restricted.
Footage shared online showed huge flames and billowing smoke from the top floor of the multi-storey building.
The East of England Ambulance Service has attended but there were no reports of casualties.
Bedfordshire fire service is at the scene and tackling the blaze, which it said had affected 80% of the car park's third floor.
The fire service described it as a vehicle fire and said 10 fire engines were attending, following a call at 20:47 BST.
The airport asked people not to travel to the site.

Looks nasty!

 

[Hadders]

There is a major fire in the newish multi-storey car park at Luton Airport. All flights are suspended.

My pocket money's on it being started by an electric car battery.

Luton Airport fire: Flights resume after blaze rips through car park

Commercial flights restart after a huge fire ripped through a multi-storey car park.

www.bbc.co.uk

All flights at London Luton Airport have been suspended because of a large vehicle fire in one of its car parks.
An airport spokesperson said emergency services were responding to the blaze at Terminal Car Park 2 and that access to the airport was restricted.
Footage shared online showed huge flames and billowing smoke from the top floor of the multi-storey building.
The East of England Ambulance Service has attended but there were no reports of casualties.
Bedfordshire fire service is at the scene and tackling the blaze, which it said had affected 80% of the car park's third floor.
The fire service described it as a vehicle fire and said 10 fire engines were attending, following a call at 20:47 BST.
The airport asked people not to travel to the site.

 

[DarloRich]

WOW that is an impressive fire - i thought it had gone quiet flight wise this evening!

 

[ijmad]

Indeed, obviously my first hope is that no one has been killed or injured, but I do wonder if the DART might be damaged or at least need a closure for safety checks.

 

[skyhigh]

My pocket money's on it being started by an electric car battery.

I'd bet it wasn't to be honest.

 

[Saint66]

Looks very serious.

East of England Ambulance service reporting on their Twitter that they’ve treated 1 member of the public and 6 firefighters for smoke inhalation.

Sounds like fire crews from multiple counties/services responding.

 

[MotCO]

My pocket money's on it being started by an electric car battery.

If the fire is difficult to extinguish, it may well have been caused by an electric vehicle, or failing that, electric vehicles could be caught up in the contagion and would burn for a long time.

 

[TheHSRailFan]

If the fire is difficult to extinguish, it may well have been caused by an electric vehicle, or failing that, electric vehicles could be caught up in the contagion and would burn for a long time.

I wouldn't jump to EVs straight away until there's an official investigation by the police. With a new car park like that, they could easily figure out what happened.

A few videos and reports have surfaced saying that the car park has collapsed... seems like it partially has...

 

[MrJeeves]

A few videos and reports have surfaced saying that the car park has collapsed... seems like it partially has...

Car fuel can melt steel beams... :P

Hopefully someone will get the reference

 

[TheHSRailFan]

Car fuel can melt steel beams... :P

Hopefully someone will get the reference

oh gosh

Update confirms on the collapse!

https://twitter.com/LDNLutonAirport/status/1711898167547982224

 

[spag23]

Luton's Multi-Storey Car Park 2, which is on fire and collapsing, seems to be directly on top of the Dart's Airport station. At some stage (not right now!) can someone update us on to what extent the Dart line is affected, or even damaged. My interest is that I'd booked to travel on it in 4 hours! But I gather the whole airport is closed anyway till further notice.

 

[gabrielhj07]

Does look nasty. That was always a good place to watch planes from.

 

[Bald Rick]

Luton's Multi-Storey Car Park 2, which is on fire and collapsing, seems to be directly on top of the Dart's Airport station. At some stage (not right now!) can someone update us on to what extent the Dart line is affected, or even damaged. My interest is that I'd booked to travel on it in 4 hours! But I gather the whole airport is closed anyway till further notice.

Its not on top of the DART station, but is close to it.

 

[westcoaster]

Just came back north through Luton Parkway.
Looks like both Darts parked up at Parkway station (1 nearest the running line was 100% there and pretty sure I saw the red tail light strip of the other one).
Major issue is the control room I'd guess being under ground. Could easily be flooded or damaged from the collapse. And definitely in an exclusion zone.

 

[Farigiraf]

Flights are being diverted to Stansted and shuttle bussed to Luton

 

[Haywain]

Airport closed until at least 15.00 today. A fire officer interviewed on local radio news states that the DART was "fully protected".

 

[Mojo]

Flights are being diverted to Stansted and shuttle bussed to Luton

Looks like flights diverted to East Midlands, Liverpool, Manchester, Cardiff, Bristol and Gatwick.

Feel particularly sorry for El Al customers who have had even more disruption than they were expecting!

 

[Class45]

The main airport approach road and part of Vauxhall Way near the airport are closed. Traffic all around Luton is chaos this morning, took me an hour to get to work instead of the usual 30 minutes.

 

[Saint66]

There is a major fire in the newish multi-storey car park at Luton Airport. All flights are suspended.

My pocket money's on it being started by an electric car battery.

Luton Airport fire: Flights resume after blaze rips through car park

Commercial flights restart after a huge fire ripped through a multi-storey car park.

www.bbc.co.uk

You may have lost your pocket money! From the BBC News live feed - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-67075159

Fire likely started in a diesel car - fire chief​

Fire chief Andy Hopkinson says it is thought the fire started with a diesel car, and then spread through the car park.
He said up to 1,500 vehicles could have been in the car park, which has a capacity of 1,900, at the time of the fire.

 

[Haywain]

The main airport approach road and part of Vauxhall Way near the airport are closed. Traffic all around Luton is chaos this morning, took me an hour to get to work instead of the usual 30 minutes.

I saw a report that there's a lane closed on the M1 between junctions 10 and 11 as well but I'm not sure if that's related.

 

[skyhigh]

You may have lost your pocket money! From the BBC News live feed - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-67075159

This image is apparently from yesterday. There aren't any EV Range Rovers and it looks like an older Evoque (which were full diesel).


(Image shows a car on fire, allegedly at Luton Airport)

 

[K4016td]

Out of interest - do you think there will be a way for people to claim some sort of replacement car right now while the recovery works are ongoing? Of course they won't be sure for at least couple of days if not weeks if their car had been lost in fire, its badly damaged or just sits there waiting to to be recovered (if actually possible, its not looking great in light of collapsed structure)?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Out of interest - do you think there will be a way for people to claim some sort of replacement car right now while the recovery works are ongoing? Of course they won't be sure for at least couple of days if not weeks if their car had been lost in fire, its badly damaged or just sits there waiting to to be recovered (if actually possible, its not looking great in light of collapsed structure)?

That'll depend on their insurance policy.

 

[skyhigh]

Out of interest - do you think there will be a way for people to claim some sort of replacement car right now while the recovery works are ongoing? Of course they won't be sure for at least couple of days if not weeks if their car had been lost in fire, its badly damaged or just sits there waiting to to be recovered (if actually possible, its not looking great in light of collapsed structure)?

Could be wrong but given the damage I suspect everything will be written off rather than trying to salvage and assess every car. What each owner gets in the meantime will be down to their insurance cover.

 

[DarloRich]

BBC report that the fire has not damaged the DART system: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-67075159

No damage to new £290m driverless train - The fire service said crews were able to keep the blaze away from the recently opened driverless shuttle link, which operates between the airport and train station.

 

[skyhigh]

Could be wrong but given the damage I suspect everything will be written off rather than trying to salvage and assess every car.

It's now reported that a 'significant number' of cars are undamaged and they are building a ramp to the undamaged area to try and remove some of the vehicles. The normal entrance/exit and drop off area has been destroyed.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

This image is apparently from yesterday. There aren't any EV Range Rovers and it looks like an older Evoque (which were full diesel).

View attachment 144637
(Image shows a car on fire, allegedly at Luton Airport)

They do have hybrids available, though?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

It's now reported that a 'significant number' of cars are undamaged and they are building a ramp to the undamaged area to try and remove some of the vehicles. The normal entrance/exit and drop off area has been destroyed.

Presumably several of those cars will have owners and their keys out of the country for several days yet.

 

[edwin_m]

A multiple car fire is a foreseeable scenario when designing a car park. Is it reasonable for it to collapse in that situation? Although it might hold up long enough for everyone to evacuate, a subsequent collapse risks the lives of any firefighters who are still attending to the fire.

Presumably several of those cars will have owners and their keys out of the country for several days yet.

A few years ago a much older multi-storey at the main hospital in Nottingham underwent a structural inspection and was immediately declared too dangerous for anyone to enter. I understand that specialists went in and installed roof props and other measures, then after several weeks someone was able to go in and drive the cars out one by one. I expect something similar will happen here - at the very least they have to confirm no further collapse is possible before anyone starts recovery of property.