All flights have been suspended at Luton Airport after a huge fire caused one of its multi-storey car parks to partially collapse – with four firefighters and one member of airport staff taken to hospital with injuries.
Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue service declared a major incident at 9.38pm and, at its peak, had 15 fire engines, three specialist aerial appliances and over 100 firefighters at the scene.
The fire service said one half of the car park is “fully involved in the fire” and the building has suffered a “significant structural collapse”.
It is believed that up to 1,200 vehicles may have been in the car park and have subsequently been damaged.
At 3.57am, firefighters were still trying to put out the enormous blaze and prevent it from spreading to adjacent buildings and vehicles on the runway of the airport.
Police and ambulance services were also in attendance.
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The East England Ambulance Service said four firefighters and one member of airport staff were taken to Luton and Dunstable Hospital.
Another patient was discharged at the scene.
In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Luton Airport said: “The safety of our passengers and staff remains our main priority. We have therefore taken the decision to suspend all flights until 12pm on Wednesday 11th October.
“Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport at this time, as access remains severely restricted.”
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Flames could be seen tearing through cars parked on an upper floor of Terminal Car Park 2 in videos posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday night.
Vehicle alarms and loud explosions could be heard, with one witness saying the speed in which the blaze tore through the floor of the car park was “incredible”.
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London Luton Airport tweeted: “All flights are currently suspended as emergency services respond to a fire in Terminal Car Park 2.
“Access to the airport is currently restricted and we ask that people do not travel to the airport at this time.”
Russell Taylor, 41, an account director from Kinross in Scotland, saw the flames after flying in to Luton Airport from Edinburgh.
He said: “There were a couple of fire engines with a car ablaze on the upper floor of the car park at just after 9pm.
“A few minutes later most of the upper floor was alight, car alarms were going off with loud explosions from cars going up in flames.
“The speed in which the fire took hold was incredible.”
