A Range Rover explosion caused a massive fire in a London airport car park (13 photos + 2 videos)

On the evening of October 10, a fire broke out in a multi-level car park at London Luton Airport. The cause of the emergency was a fire in a Range Rover. One hundred firefighters fought the fire for 12 hours, 5 people were hospitalized. Due to the cancellation of more than 140 flights, almost 50 thousand passengers were affected.





CCTV cameras captured the moment of the explosion. Investigators believe the fire started due to damaged electrical wiring or a fuel leak in the diesel vehicle.

The fire spread as several electric vehicles exploded in a domino effect. The flames engulfed up to 1,500 vehicles.



The car park, which opened in 2019 as part of a £20m upgrade, was not equipped with sprinklers. One fire chief called on airport officials to install them in existing and future parking lots.

Due to the open sides of the building, the fire spread "horizontally" before rising through the structure. The fire was so intense that the building collapsed beyond repair.



According to technical expert Greg Carter, the most common cause of a car fire is a faulty 12-volt battery system. He added that diesel fuel is "much less flammable" than gasoline and requires "high pressure or a long flame" to ignite in a car.



“The cars were parked very close to each other, so unfortunately that caused the fire to spread quickly,” commented Liam Smith, fire chief at Leighton Buzzard station. “The fire quickly engulfed the electric cars, but the fire started with the diesel car.” .



More than 100 firefighters, as well as 15 fire engines and 3 aircraft, arrived at the scene.

Four firefighters and one airport worker suffered smoke inhalation and received medical attention.









"A significant number of vehicles have survived and we are also working out how to remove them without endangering emergency responders," said Andrew Hopkinson, chief fire officer at Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service. A ramp will be installed to the area unaffected by the fire, since regular exit from the parking lot is unsafe.







On October 11 at 15:00 local time, Luton Airport resumed operations.