A fire that spread overnight through a parking garage at Luton Airport, the fourth largest airport serving London, caused the airport to suspend flights until 3 p.m. Wednesday.
By Wednesday morning, the fire was extinguished and was no longer considered a major incident, though passengers were advised to not to travel to the airport, the Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said. Four firefighters and an airport worker were hospitalized for smoke inhalation, according to the BBC.
The fire, which began on Tuesday evening, led to a “partial structural collapse” at Terminal Car Park 2, according to the operator of the airport, which is a hub for budget airlines, including easyJet and Ryanair.
The Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said it first received calls about the fire shortly before 9 p.m. It deployed 15 fire trucks and more than 100 firefighters to the blaze, which quickly grew in intensity. Up to 1,200 vehicles were estimated to have been in the parking garage and damaged.
Emergency services remained on the scene as of Wednesday morning, the airport said on social media. Firefighters were still battling the blaze at around 4 a.m., and the airport advised passengers to not head to the airport, though hundreds of people were already stranded there, according to news media reports.
The fire service said in a statement at 10 a.m. that firefighters had worked through the night to put out the fire. The fire service was expected to stay at the scene throughout the day, and an investigation will be held to determine the cause, the statement said.
Jenny Gross and John Yoon contributed reporting.
Andrés R. Martínez
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