Andrew Hopkinson, chief fire officer for Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said more than 100 firefighters tackled the blaze at Luton Airport. Speaking to reporters at the scene, he said: “Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service’s fire control received an initial 999 call at 8.47pm yesterday evening, reporting a car on fire on the third floor of the Terminal car park two behind me here at London Luton Airport.
“Our first two fire appliances arrived on scene just a shade under 10 minutes later to work alongside firefighters from Luton Airport Fire Service. On arrival my officers were faced with a severe and rapidly spreading fire involving a large number of vehicles that ultimately spread to multiple floors and involved a partial collapse of the car park.
“The incident was declared a major incident at 9.38pm. The car park has a capacity of just over 1,900 cars and we estimate up to 1,500 cars are in the affected car park. At its peak we had 15 fire appliances, over 100 firefighters and a number of specialist resources including the one you will see over my right-hand shoulder, with resources provided by neighbouring fire and rescue services. Fire crews from Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and London Fire Brigade also helped with the incident.
"One half of the structure is fully involved in fire and the building has suffered a significant structural collapse.
“We don’t believe it was an electric vehicle,” he said.
“It’s believed to be diesel-powered, at this stage all subject to verification. And then that fire has quickly and rapidly spread.”