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 more than 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”.
Andrew Hopkinson, chief fire officer at Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the car park had more than 1,500 vehicles in at the time.
He added that firefighters faced a “severe and rapidly spreading fire” on arrival and that the blaze “ultimately spread to multiple floors”.
Read more: How Luton Airport fire is affecting flights – here’s what we know
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 airport runway.
Police and ambulance services were also in attendance.
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.
An investigation into the cause of the fire will take place, Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue service said.
In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Luton 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 luton.customerservices@apcoa.com.
“Passengers should contact their airline for information regarding their flight.”
Flames could be seen tearing through cars parked on an upper floor of Terminal Car Park 2 in videos posted on social media on Tuesday night.
One witness told Sky News that “you could hear cars exploding”.
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Another witness said his vehicle was one of those inside the multi-storey car park.
He said he was inside the airport when the fire broke out, but knows his car has been affected as “all Car Park 2 is completely finished”.
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.”
