Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service has confirmed that an investigation is now underway to determine the cause of the inferno that ripped through a Luton Airport car park and caused a ‘significant structural collapse’, that damaged up to 1,500 vehicles.
A blaze broke out in the Terminal 2 multi-storey on Tuesday night and spread rapidly, with more than 100 firefighters tackling the flames and succeeding in extinguishing them by the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Four firefighters and a member of airport staff were taken to Luton & Dunstable Hospital with smoke inhalation but were swiftly discharged.
At 3:30pm, Bedfordshire Fire and Resuce Service confirmed that that, ‘the initial vehicle involved in the fire was a diesel car’, adding that ‘a full fire investigation will take place to determine the cause of the fire’.
All flights were cancelled until 3pm yesterday, but have now resumed and access to the airport that had been severely restricted has been lifted.
London Luton Airport has also issued a statement praising the quick response to the fire, with a spokesperson saying: “As we reflect on a difficult 24 hours, we wanted to express our sincere gratitude to the emergency services for their swift and commendable response, ensuring the safety of our passengers and staff.
“We understand the significant disruption this incident has caused, and we are grateful for the patience and understanding our passengers and business partners have shown.
“Our dedicated teams have worked tirelessly to restore airport operations, provide support to customers and ensure flights were able to resume by late afternoon.
“We are committed to providing as much support as we can to affected customers.”
Cllr Javeria Hussain, chair of Luton Rising, the trading name of London Luton Airport Ltd, said: “We would like to thank all the emergency services and our airport operator for their incredible response to the major fire which took hold last night at one of the airport’s multi-storey car parks.
“Their professionalism was outstanding and we feel blessed that no-one was more seriously hurt. Our best wishes for a full and speedy recovery go to those who attended hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.”
If you have a query relating to a parked vehicle or future booking, in Terminal Car Park 2 and Terminal Car Park 1, you can contact luton.customerservices@apcoa.com for assistance.
With some disruption expected, passengers are also asked to follow the advice on the London Luton Airport website.”
