Luton Airport Car Park 2 Fire

[ACarneiro]

Luton Airport flights suspended after large car park fire

A multi-storey car park partially collapses and up to 1,200 vehicles may have been damaged.

www.bbc.co.uk

I wonder who’s going to be the first to claim it all started with an EV before any evidence actually emerges as to the actual cause of the fire…
I’m putting my money on the Daily Fail.

 

[Jason71]

My thoughts exactly but maybe it actually was in which case they are going to have a frickin field day.. Let the "temporary" bans from multi story carparks begin"while safety priceedures are reviewed"etc etc. So fingers crossed it was not

 

[qwickshot]

I’ve already seen it posted on non-EV based forums alleging it’s an electric car causing it. I didn’t take long…

 

[ACarneiro]

Indeed.
I was very careful with saying “before any evidence emerges” because I accept it could indeed have been an EV.

This should prove interesting.

 

[GT_M3]

BBC news briefly mentioned it was an EV at the end of their coverage. I do hope not.

 

[ACarneiro]

BBC news briefly mentioned it was an EV at the end of their coverage. I do hope not.

Oh, here we go....
How can they POSSIBLY know that??

 

[debrooker]

Let the witchhunt begin....

 

[djtaylor]

It makes no difference. I've already seen comments such as "It doesn't matter if an EV didn't cause it, if one was then ignored it will be worse."
There will be affected EVs to fuel that.
Also reported a few minutes ago, a fire at a scrap yard in Tipton. Goes without saying that must be an EV too.

 

[Jason71]

It makes no difference. I've already seen comments such as "It doesn't matter if an EV didn't cause it, if one was then ignored it will be worse."
There will be affected EVs to fuel that.
Also reported a few minutes ago, a fire at a scrap yard in Tipton. Goes without saying that must be an EV too.

It is a fact that burning EV's are a real problem to put out . It is also a fact that ICE are actually more likely to catch fire than EV's so parking EV's and ICE together is the worst case scenario where ICE are the fire lighters and EV's fuel the fire.
The irony is not lost on me though that in my analogy EV's are basically the coal

 

[extcombustion]

My brother was one of the fire fighters to initially respond, he informs me it was an EV, or actually several parked together, that when one went up three others followed in quick succession leading to the widespread destruction you see today.
He believes it will be suppressed as the source while his senior colleagues argue to ban EV's from multi-storey car parks due to the unstoppable nature of EV fires in tightly enclosed spaces. He did not mention the brand of vehicle originating the outburst but did suggest several Tesla are involved in the blaze.

Mod comment: A few have reported this post but I'm minded to leave it. The truth will come out and we've already seen possible footage of the original car on fire. I suspect the issue is more nuanced as well, the original cause of the fire and what caused it to spread quickly may be different things.

 

[MrBadger]

I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have spread so quickly had there not have been hundreds of cars there filled with flammable liquid.

 

[Morpheus84]

Just what I need when I’m about to get quotes for renewing my MY insurance

 

[extcombustion]

I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have spread so quickly had there not have been hundreds of cars there filled with flammable liquid.

My brother (the fireman) says these incidents really only occur (in his nearly 20 years experience) when EV's park together in large numbers as an EV battery fire is infinitely harder to contain that petrol or diesel. Several together is a recipe for disaster.

 

[Jaysuey51]

Liverpool car park fire: Hundreds of burnt-out vehicles removed

More than 1,000 vehicles were destroyed when the Liverpool car park was engulfed in flames.

www.bbc.co.uk

A 16 year old range rover caused that one. I think once a busy car park goes up there's no chance of fighting it due to how tightly packed cars are regardless of being EV's or not.

I'd just get on with life and let the mentalists complain.

 

[Cardo]

I’ve seen this posted on FB. A photo appears to show a Range Rover, possibly a hybrid well in flames. It was being driven at the time, the driver bailed out.

 

[ACarneiro]

My brother was one of the fire fighters to initially respond, he informs me it was an EV, or actually several parked together, that when one went up three others followed in quick succession leading to the widespread destruction you see today.
He believes it will be suppressed as the source while his senior colleagues argue to ban EV's from multi-storey car parks due to the unstoppable nature of EV fires in tightly enclosed spaces. He did not mention the brand of vehicle originating the outburst but did suggest several Tesla are involved in the blaze.

I’m terribly sorry but you’re a brand new member giving what seems to be very authoritative information which I find hard to believe anyone can have (even those involved in the initial operations).
I regrettably can’t really put much credence on your post.

 

[AndyWarrington]

My brother (the fireman) says these incidents really only occur (in his nearly 20 years experience) when EV's park together in large numbers as an EV battery fire is infinitely harder to contain that petrol or diesel. Several together is a recipe for disaster.

Created a new account or just found this forum to enlighten us about your brothers career

Now that's public service broadcasting right there ffs

 

[Jason71]

And so it begins!
but does he have a point?

ICE fires burn at 800-1000 degrees based on my very brief research. EV fires can reach nearly 3000 degrees centigrade.
one of the things 911 taught us is that Steel loses most of its strength well before its melting point of 1400-1500 degrees?

Are multi-storey carparks ( particularly ones under buildings) designed to survive the temperatures of a serious ICE fire? It would be tricky given the above graph I guess the underground ones particularly have fire suppression systems for that reason
but would sprinklers work on a car that brings its own fuel and oxygen to the party and is not readily put out by water?

Edit: I have been on here a long time so you guys know I am not a troll. Just interested in having an open and honest discussion if that is still possible in 2023

 

[Rooster6655]

My brother (the fireman) says these incidents really only occur (in his nearly 20 years experience) when EV's park together in large numbers as an EV battery fire is infinitely harder to contain that petrol or diesel. Several together is a recipe for disaster.

There isn't any reason for EV's to park in large numbers or next to each other in Luton Car Park 2 as there are no chargers there, the limited chargers are in Car Park 1!

 

[davidmc]

Range rover vid is being posted on X (Not confirmed if this was the Car or what type, or if its the real incident tho)

Also X is rife with "It was an EV", "I'm never going to buy one", "Ban EV's" - also a few blaming Tesla and that it was the chargers on the roof.

The chargers are in Car Park 1 FYI

Also I'm parking there in the early morning at 3am (Car Park 2) as off on hols. Been on phone to the car park operator who has told me to go to Car Park 1 now as all have been upgraded. Hoping flight get back to normal.

Also hope all affected in Luton AP are safe and well