Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue Service have confirmed that a diesel-powered car was the cause of a blaze which damaged over 1,000 vehicles at a multi-storey car park in Luton.
Over 100 firefighters and 15 fire engines worked for twelve hours battling the blaze, which began yesterday (Oct. 11) on the third floor of Terminal Car Park 2. Nearby residents were told to close their windows to avoid the smoke.
In a report, Andrew Hopkinson, chief fire officer for Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue Service, explained that that there were no sprinklers in the car park. He said: “We are already talking to the airport about ensuring that any future, and the existing, car parks have sprinklers fitted because this building is not sprinkler protected. Sprinklers may have made a positive impact on this incident.”
AA technical expert Greg Carter added that the most common cause of car fires is an electrical fault with the 12-volt battery system. He said that diesel is “much less flammable” than petrol and in a car it takes “intense pressure or sustained flame” to ignite diesel. Flights resumed just after 3.30pm on Wednesday after all planes to and from Luton were suspended when a major incident was declared.
Russell Taylor, 41, an account director from Kinross, saw the flames after flying in to Luton Airport from Edinburgh. “There were a couple of fire engines with a car ablaze on the upper floor of the car park at just after 9pm,” he said. “A few minutes later, most of the upper floor was alight, and car alarms were going off with loud explosions from cars going up in flames. The speed in which the fire took hold was incredible.”
