New car technologies can push the limits of fire protection in parking garages, as seen at London’s Luton Airport.
In October 2023, Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue Services received calls about a fire in a five-level open parking garage at the Luton Airport in London. The facility opened in 2019 and was constructed with a steel frame and concrete floors; it offered parking for 2,700 vehicles. However, it was not equipped with a sprinkler system and was not required to install one, according to codes in effect at the time of its construction.
The fire began in a reported diesel-powered vehicle with a plastic fuel tank on the third floor of the garage and rapidly spread to adjacent vehicles. Upon arrival, the fire department assumed interior operations against the fire. Approximately 16 minutes into firefighting operations, the crew was forced to fall back to defensive exterior operations because there were signs that the facility structure — affected by the intense heat of the rapidly spreading fire — could be in danger of imminent collapse. Ultimately, the fire spread to 1,352 vehicles and led to a partial structural collapse that necessitated demolition of the structure.
According to the Significant Incident Report issued by Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue Service, the fire is believed to have been caused by an electrical fault in a diesel-powered SUV; the fire was deemed accidental in nature. Crews responding to the fire reported that, upon arrival, they witnessed burning fuel (presumed to have leaked from plastic fuel tanks that melted in the heat of the fire) spreading through the structure in rivulets aided by gravity and the sloped floors of the structure. As burning fuel traveled through the drainage system in the garage, it spread the fire to additional floors beneath the floor of origin. Owing to the open nature of the parking garage, winds also contributed to the rapid fire spread.
The fire report does not attribute the spread of the fire to the presence of electric vehicles (EVs), as the observations made by responding fire crews identified the leaked and burning fuel as the primary means of fire spread to adjacent vehicles and adjacent floors.
However, one cannot rule out the potential contribution of EVs in a fire that destroyed more than 1,300 vehicles. Regardless, this highlights the challenges of protecting modern vehicle garages in an age where historically noncombustible metal car parts are being replaced with plastic and rubber materials that are susceptible to melting and burning.
The increased fuel load and the ability of fire to impinge on plastic fuel tanks significantly changes the hazard landscape, as compared to the hazards under which the decision to omit sprinklers in open garages was initially accepted. Even in open parking garages where sprinkler protection has historically not been required, changes in automotive technology are forcing the industry to revisit earlier decisions and evaluate this new risk landscape in determining changes are that necessary to protect people, property and first responders.
