Luton Airport car park fire...

Brio · October 2023

I'm betting an EV caused it. Any other guesses?

RandallFlagg · October 2023

It's concerning if it is found to be caused by an EV and will add to the sentiment of 'greenlash' across Europe that is being hailed in the media.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/09/uk-joins-europes-growing-greenlash-with-new-pro-motorist-policies.html#

guitars4you · October 2023

around 1200 cars in the car park - most/all damaged/destroyed

I won't do it again - But 2 weeks ago picked my daughter up from Manchester airport - Arrivals - 2 min walk from the car park to the arrivals area - Left the dog in the car which he is fine with - Waited 10 mins for my daughter to arrive in the arrivals area - So a short wait for the dog - Won't be doing that again

strumjoughlamps · October 2023

Brio said:

I'm betting an EV caused it. Any other guesses?

victorludorum · October 2023

Seems like the most obvious possible cause. If it is, it's going to be a hard one to deal with for airports and multi-storey car parks in general. Insurers will be rubbing their hands with glee.

euan · October 2023

While in one of the early videos you could appear to hear battery cells popping, it’s still more likely to have been a ICE that started that fire than a BEV

siremoon · October 2023

An EV has to be favourite.

If confirmed then just imagine if this had been a block of flats with an underground car park. The evangelists will trot out the usual line "the probability of a fire is no more than an ICE" which is totally irrelevant because the probability is not zero and the consequences of an EV fire are far, far worse.

Petrol is very dangerous but the regulations and infrastructure to minimise the risk are long established and very effective. There are literally no equivalent regulations and infrastructure at present to prevent or mitigate the consequences of an EV battery thermal runaway. That needs to change quickly because sooner or later one of these going up in a car park is going to cause fatalities.

roundthebend · October 2023

It makes me laugh how people are so offended by things, like EVs, that they take every opportunity to blame and attack.

Let's say it was an EV that caused this fire. That fire is not purely from a single EV, and I doubt there were that many EVs close together. So, all cars are capable of catching fire and getting difficult to control in a short space of time. It could just add easily have been a phone, vape, battery charger pack or numerous other Li-on powered devices that caused the fire. Or indeed, a regular cigarette or fault with a combustion engine vehicle.

BillDL · October 2023

Billy Joel has denied responsibility on behalf of more than just himself, as have Robby Krieger and Jim Morrison's surviving relatives, but perhaps it is a copycat crime:

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/32381331b20f03793e922d711aacca7d3e6c29e1c29920a26a

If there has been any suspicion of sex, The Kings of Leon must surely be prime suspects.

If the fire was circular, there may have been some Cash involved.

Dominic · October 2023

No but it could have been the ghost of Keith Flint

theatreanchor · October 2023

I think it was a TV whose CV bore a shoddy reference to their BVs.

roundthebend · October 2023

This article seems fairly balanced and not Pro- or Con- EV.

https://www.autoweek.com/news/a38225037/how-much-you-should-worry-about-ev-fires/

25/1000 EVs caused fires
vs
1500/1000 for petrol cars

The two main triggers for EV fires are:
1. damaged battery after a crash
2. fault during charging

A crash in a car park seems unlikely. And I don't believe this fire started where there are EV charge points so that's also unlikely.

Let's wait for the facts to come out.

stickyfiddle · October 2023

I'm generally with @roundthebend on wanting to see facts before making judgements here.

But it's important to judge risks and impacts together when assessing whether EVs are more or less dangerous than ICE cars.

It might be that EVs have fires 1/10th as often as ICEs, but if the impact of those fires is 100x worse then that would be a bad thing. Equally it could be the other way around. (For clarity - THESE NUMBERS ARE MADE UP AND I'M NOT SAYING EVs ARE BETTER OR WORSE!)

I know that small fires from ICEs aren't a big deal - a bit of oil gets somewhere hot and flashes under the bonnet but doesn't do any harm outside the car itself, whereas EVs can go up in a big way and the fire can't easily be put out so has to be left to burn, which can cause problems. But maybe the odds of that are actually way lower than big fires in ICE cars - I remember seeing a BMW absolutely engulfed on the M6 a few years ago.

It's also likely that fire prevention in EVs will get better over time. And let's be honest, Teslas are the majority of EVs at the moment and they're not known for spectacular quality control - maybe other manufacturers will have fewer fires. I honestly don't know.

roundthebend · October 2023

That's exactly what I'm getting at @stickyfiddle ;

guitars4you · October 2023

Wasn't the recent ship container in the North Sea/English fire caused by car batteries with 1000's of cars destroyed

guitars4you · October 2023

Slightly off topic but hasn't there been issues with Apple 15 phones and chargers/fires

The fire brigade have reported an increase in many fires from various charging issues - We had a near neighbour, only 2/3 weeks ago, with a shed fire from charging 2 batteries

roundthebend · October 2023

guitars4you said:

Wasn't the recent ship container in the North Sea/English fire caused by car batteries with 1000's of cars destroyed

I can't remember if it was ever confirmed. Might be a Mandela Effect. I'm going to look it up now, I remember the event.

roundthebend · October 2023

Seemingly not all of the cars on that ship were EVs, only 500 of the 3500+. Rumours are that it was started by an EV though.

Again my point is that once a fire has started all cars seem to be quite problematic. So, the cause is important but we shouldn't ignore the things that help to perpetuate a fire.

Reverend · October 2023

roundthebend said:

This article seems fairly balanced and not Pro- or Con- EV.

https://www.autoweek.com/news/a38225037/how-much-you-should-worry-about-ev-fires/

25/1000 EVs caused fires
vs
1500/1000 for petrol cars

The two main triggers for EV fires are:
1. damaged battery after a crash
2. fault during charging

A crash in a car park seems unlikely. And I don't believe this fire started where there are EV charge points so that's also unlikely.

Let's wait for the facts to come out.

absolutely not.

Jeeves, bring me my pitchfork

axisus · October 2023

I live in Luton, traffic chaos this morning! Fortunately I'm working from home.

Apparently there were no sprinklers fitted. Pretty shambolic in this day and age.

guitars4you said:

I won't do it again - But 2 weeks ago picked my daughter up from Manchester airport - Arrivals - 2 min walk from the car park to the arrivals area - Left the dog in the car which he is fine with - Waited 10 mins for my daughter to arrive in the arrivals area - So a short wait for the dog - Won't be doing that again

Wow, that is a scary scary thought.

DuploLicks · October 2023

This is the first time I can remember a ‘car park fire’. I’m sure cars have caught fire in multi-stories before but it hasn’t resulted in the whole place burning up!

Even if it wasn’t an EV that started it, when an EV does go up they take everything with it. I’ll definitely be thinking about whether I need to park in a multi-storey car park in future

Shrews · October 2023

Somebody smoking in the car, probably cannabis. A last puff before they enter the airport. Open the door, a gust of wind blows the tip onto the back seat. Driver is a little high and doesn't notice, walks to the airport, leaving it smouldering on the back seat.

After the evacuation the driver is disappointed as he didn't need to rush through his last joint and sits outside with a few others smoking a cigarette blaming EV's, Hamas, Russia and Just Stop Oil.

thecolourbox · October 2023

axisus said:

I live in Luton, traffic chaos this morning!

I've only been to Luton twice and both times this was the case, so seems par for the course to be fair

roundthebend · October 2023

DuploLicks said:

This is the first time I can remember a ‘car park fire’. I’m sure cars have caught fire in multi-stories before but it hasn’t resulted in the whole place burning up!

Even if it wasn’t an EV that started it, when an EV does go up they take everything with it. I’ll definitely be thinking about whether I need to park in a multi-storey car park in future

No. An EV fire is bad - really bad. But once that fire has spread a few cars along, which I assume they weren't all EVs, then you can't really blame the EV for continuing that spread. Unless it suits an agenda to attack EVs.

Kilgore · October 2023

Hundreds stranded at the airport. Reports that airlines are running out of Campari and lemonade.

Brio · October 2023

Kilgore said:

Hundreds stranded at the airport. Reports that airlines are running out of Campari and lemonade.

Aaaah. Historical reference. :-)

Brio · October 2023

When the car park at the Liverpool Echo Arena went up did they ever clarify that line from the Mayor about the car that started it having been converted to a "different fuel arrangement"?

DuploLicks · October 2023

roundthebend said:

DuploLicks said:

This is the first time I can remember a ‘car park fire’. I’m sure cars have caught fire in multi-stories before but it hasn’t resulted in the whole place burning up!

Even if it wasn’t an EV that started it, when an EV does go up they take everything with it. I’ll definitely be thinking about whether I need to park in a multi-storey car park in future

No. An EV fire is bad - really bad. But once that fire has spread a few cars along, which I assume they weren't all EVs, then you can't really blame the EV for continuing that spread. Unless it suits an agenda to attack EVs.

The difference is the intensity at which EV vs ICE fires burn. As mentioned, I’ve never heard of a runaway ‘car park fire’ before although cars will have caught fire in car parks before with other vehicles around it. This fire is on a different scale. What caused that?

Gassage · October 2023

Shiiiiit-

I have parked in that car park twice in recent World Cup trips.

Brio · October 2023

Mate messaged me to say he'd heard it was a diesel LandRover Disco that was being driven, caught fire and the driver stopped it and jumped out. So not electric or even petrol. To Be Confirmed though.

the_jaffa · October 2023

Fire spokesman on the scene has suggested a diesel vehicle too according to the BBC

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