Luton Airport fire – terminals closed as clean up operation and investigations begin

Four firefighters and a member of the airport staff were taken to hospital as emergency services grappled with a massive fire at Luton Airport overnight.

At the height of the blaze 15 fire appliances were at the scene of the blaze at a multi storey car park at the airport on Tuesday night.

Flights to and from the airport are suspended until 3pm today and people are being urged to stay away from the scene.

And road closures are in place around the site.

Luton Council this morning said: “Vauxhall Way is closed from Kimpton Road to Eaton Green Road until further notice. Diversion in place via Crawley Green Road. However if possible, please avoid area to help ease congestion.”

Arriva bus services said: “Due to a fire at the multistorey car park at Luton Airport all services are unable to serve the airport terminal. Services A and 100 are operating up to Vauxhall, terminating at Luton bound stop on Kimpton Rd.”

Terminal car park 2 has partially collapsed after the blaze, which broke out at around 9pm last night.

In a statement this morning the airport said: “Emergency services remain on the scene following last night’s fire in Terminal Car Park 2.

“Our priority remains supporting the emergency services and the safety of our passengers and staff. Therefore, we have now taken the decision to suspend all flights until 3pm on Wednesday 11th October.

“Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport at this time, as access remains severely restricted. For queries relating to a parked vehicle or future booking please contact l[email protected].

“Passengers should contact their airline for information regarding their flight.”

Beds Fire and Rescue this morning said: “Crews have controlled and extinguished the fire at Luton Airport. Four crews and an aerial appliance remain at the scene. All flights are suspended until 3pm. If you have a flight leaving before 3pm, please do not travel. Please avoid the area owing to severe traffic delays.”

Luton DART services are also currently suspended.

In a statement Beds Fire and Rescue said: “Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service received calls to a fire involving a car on level three of the multi-storey car park at London Luton Airport at 8.47pm.

“Fire crews were faced with a rapidly escalating fire and declared a major incident at 9.38pm.

“A severe fire rapidly spread through the structure and the severity of the fire has caused significant structural collapse. It is believed that up to 1,200 vehicles may have been in the car park at the time of the fire and subsequently damaged.

“Firefighting operations were undertaken to control the blaze and protect nearby buildings, vehicles, aircraft, and the Luton DART.

“At its peak, there were 15 Rescue pumps, three aerial appliances and over 100 firefighters on scene at this incident. We would like to thank our fire colleagues from Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, and London Fire Brigade along with Bedfordshire Police and East of England Ambulance for their support.”

A full investigation into the blaze is now taking place and the Fire service said: “Firefighting operations are monitoring the smoldering remains and will continue throughout the day.

“Currently four crews and an aerial appliance remain at the scene, and crews are working in conjunction with the airport fire service.”

East of England Ambualnce said: “Critical incident now stood down, but we remain on-scene to support fire & rescue colleagues. Four firefighters and one member of airport staff taken to Luton & Dunstable Hospital. One other patient discharged at-scene.

The blaze had a massive knock-on effect for those travelling last night.

One woman tweeted: “Got brought off flight after two hours on plane because of fire at Luton Airport, emergency services working hard. Got last three rooms in Ibis hotel, we were lucky, there are so many can’t get into any hotels. Staff at Luton very helpful.”