Luton Airport car park will be demolished after 1,500 vehicles ravaged in fireball ‘sparked by faulty motor’
THE Luton Airport car park that was devastated in a fire is to be “fully demolished”.
The blaze saw more than a thousand vehicles wrecked and the airport has said that any cars parked on the ground and first floors were “not recoverable”.
It added that work is ongoing to remove around 100 vehicles which were parked on the top deck “to stabilise the structure”.
It’s believed the fire was started accidentally last month due to a vehicle fault.
A man was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage in connection to the incident on October 10.
It’s though the man, who has been released on bail, was arrested as a precaution.
Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service’s chief fire officer Andrew Hopkinson said as many as 1,500 vehicles were in the car park at the time with as many as 1,200 believed to be damaged.
The airport said most insurance claims have been settled.
It added: “On behalf of everyone at London Luton Airport, I would like to thank you for your patience and understanding as we have worked through this unprecedented situation.”
The flames ripped through the Terminal Car Park 2 in Luton as holidaymakers looked on in horror and firefighters battled the inferno.
Four firefighters and a member of airport staff were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and another firefighter was treated at the scene.
CCTV cameras snapped the moment the fire raged through the building, seeing multiple floors collapse.
And while dozens of blackened cars could be seen scattered throughout the flame-ravaged building, there are vehicles in perfectly good nick, too.
The blaze is thought to have been ignited by a diesel vehicle that had just entered the building around 9pm on Tuesday.
A source claimed the driver was forced to leap from the car while it was still moving to escape the flames.
From there, an inferno ripped through the building, with firefighters forced to work through the night to try and bring the blaze under control.
Luton Airport was forced to close for 18 hours, leaving tens of thousands of passengers in limbo.
