Luton Airport car park fire

[KennyN]

I really can't fathom how a localised fire that was detected early-on, managed to get out of control. Especially at an airport where you'd expect they'll be fire crews on the ready?

I would have thought security cameras operators would have picked up on the fire as i would imagine that there would be cameras monitoring all areas of the carpark , did the carpark have sprinkler systems as if activated all hell would have broken out on the fire alarm panel , did the persons filming the start of the fire notify the control centre straight way and did they hit a "Fire" callpoint to activate the alarm , did they actually know what to do in the event of discovering a fire as they seem to be foreign and maybe not familiar with English signage ?

Lots of questions to be asked.

K

 

[ALFAitalia]

What, than a petrol tank blowing up!

They only do that in films!.....I've seen the odd car fire...in.real life you get sort of a muffled woof sound and the burning fuel hits the floor....not a fire ball like the movies.

 

[Doodle]

Have you been there recently???

I'd frankly rather staple my nuts to a desk.

I'm working off data provided by the airport.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Seems it was a Hybrid 23 plate Disco Sport.

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So you can all stop bickering now that we know , so now EV fanboys can blame dino juice - EV haters can blame the battery.
Seems like a win - win for both sides of the argument .

Maybe, but.... multi-storey car parks have been around for almost a century.

I can't remember a significant fire like this before.

And Jaguar Land Rover electrics have been infamously unreliable for decades.

What has changed in 2023 ?

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

There's 4 car parks at Luton, they lost 1700 spaces with the collapse of Car Park 2 which accounts for about 20% of their parking. (Midstay is circa 2000 spaces, Long stay is 4200-ish, Car Park 1 circa 1300?)

For sure, but it's going to be a pain in the house to move all that short-stay stuff onto mid-stay and long-stay.

They'll need to find drivers and coaches from this morning. (This is an industry which has been struggling to resource the airport and baggage handling for more than two years now)

I'm well aware that airports have contingency plans for exactly this kind of problem AND physical capacity to handle summer peaks.

My point was that it's going to be struggle to get all that traffic into coaches and through the airport.

Remember that all of Europe and the USA is still struggling with Airport resourcing. (Because of Brexit, of course)

Mishandled baggage rate almost doubled globally in 2022 as airlines scrambled after Covid

 

[clk320x]

Bit of a surprise that.

Our 2009 211 (138k miles) can still see over 50mpg on a run.

The 2014 Viano (189k miles) covered 1,500 during a week in August. It returned an actual 38.3mpg.

They're about as good as ever could have expected of them methinks.

The data shows on average around 85% capacity even at over 200k miles on a pack…bare in mind this means very little in the real world anyway as no one realistically drives down to 0% anyway…

I’ll be interested to know how efficiency drops on an ICE engine % wise with 200k of carbon deposits…

The battery pack and motor needs no servicing either… so no oil change every 10k, no fuel filter, no air filter… brakes will probably still be good at 200k as well…

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

The data shows on average around 85% capacity even at over 200k miles on a pack…bare in mind this means very little in the real world anyway as no one realistically drives down to 0% anyway…

I’ll be interested to know how efficiency drops on an ICE engine % wise with 200k of carbon deposits…

The battery pack and motor needs no servicing either… so no oil change every 10k, no fuel filter, no air filter… brakes will probably still be good at 200k as well…

Every German airport and railway station has Mercedes E class and Vianos parked outside it which have done 200k, 300k and even 400k. Still working hard, day in day out.

Are Tesla EV’s doing that kind of carriage trade work anywhere after that kind of mileage?

 

[BTB 500]

did the carpark have sprinkler systems

No. Being reported now that it may have to be demolished.

 

[BTB 500]

multi-storey car parks have been around for almost a century.

I thought it was longer than that so looked it up - first one in London opened in 1901. There's one from 1907 that was still in use a an NCP car park in 2017 ... not sure about now as the site is in Mayfair so worth ££££££££ to developers.

 

[BTB 500]

Every German airport and railway station has Mercedes E class and Vianos parked outside it which have done 200k, 300k and even 400k. Still working hard, day in day out.

Generally on the original engine/gearbox/etc. too.

 

[PXW]

Every German airport and railway station has Mercedes E class and Vianos parked outside it which have done 200k, 300k and even 400k. Still working hard, day in day out.

Are Tesla EV’s doing that kind of carriage trade work anywhere after that kind of mileage?

Apparently yes - there are a number of very high mileage Teslas around. I’m aware of a four year old Model 3, used as an uber, done 210k so far and battery is still at 90%+ of original. Mechanically very sound - the mechanic in question did a check on ours, so we discussed it, and he reckons the Uber conservatively has at least the same again in it.

 

[Neiltodd]

They only do that in films!.....I've seen the odd car fire...in.real life you get sort of a muffled woof sound and the burning fuel hits the floor....not a fire ball like the movies.

I've seen a combine harvester blow up, initially a good fire until something blew up, maybe the diesel tank but I don't know enough about these to know what did explode but it was quite spectacular!

 

[Darrell]

Who pays for the car park to be rebuilt and covers the loss of earnings?

 

[Dryce]

I can't remember a significant fire like this before.

What has changed in 2023 ?

Liverpool - just over 5 years ago.

This one was closer to London and impacted the airport - so was a bit more noticable.

A bit of quick and dirty research on the interweb would suggest that EVs in themselves are not an issue. Petrol and diesel cars are well established. And in the middle of that you have the hybrids which appear to be a higher risk and the manner in which they may ignite and subsequently burn is different.

I think now thie problem is being highlighted I would be concerned about ferries as well as carparks. Ferries add the additional complication of plenty of available water - but it's salt water which isn't good for electrics.

 

[Petrol Pete]

Insurance companies seem to be keeping a close eye on EV's with reports of some EV owners complaining of massive increases in premiums . The insurance companies might be worried that not only will they have to pay out for one burnt out car but for dozens of cars parked near by , and a house .....

The reports still say it was not an EV that started the fire but a Diesel Range Rover , they are known for dodgy electrics , so who knows.

It's in the Guardian ...so it must be true

‘The quotes were £5,000 or more’: electric vehicle owners face soaring insurance costs

Drivers who ditched petrol and diesel to help save the planet face huge price rises in premiums

www.theguardian.com

 

[TC350]

But really, what with NOX sensors, ad blue tanks and blocked DPF's, diesels 'aint gonna be on the road for much longer.

We live in hope

 

[KennyN]

The reports still say it was not an EV that started the fire but a Diesel Range Rover , they are known for dodgy electrics , so who knows.

On a 23 plate Disco Sport JLR only have two options , petrol plug in hybrid or diesel mild hybrid. There are no diesel / petrol only options available.

Maybe the media either dont know enough about what propels that particular vehicle or maybe they have been told to play down the fact it was a hybrid / plug in hybrid as it will just feed the appetite of the EV haters and as a consequence those all important sales figures.

K

 

[Darrell]

We live in hope

I’m not fussed to be honest.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

I thought it was longer than that so looked it up - first one in London opened in 1901. There's one from 1907 that was still in use a an NCP car park in 2017 ... not sure about now as the site is in Mayfair so worth ££££££££ to developers.

Interesting. I dated it to the Twenties because of the expansion of driving amongst "common folk."

I'd forgotten that the electric cars of the Noughties and Tens needed covered parking - which is why those 200 vehicle garage units were built in London.

Carrington Street was bought for £50 million and has been redeveloped. Apartments on the market this month, if anyone's interested.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Liverpool - just over 5 years ago.

This one was closer to London and impacted the airport - so was a bit more noticable.

A bit of quick and dirty research on the interweb would suggest that EVs in themselves are not an issue. Petrol and diesel cars are well established. And in the middle of that you have the hybrids which appear to be a higher risk and the manner in which they may ignite and subsequently burn is different.

I think now thie problem is being highlighted I would be concerned about ferries as well as carparks. Ferries add the additional complication of plenty of available water - but it's salt water which isn't good for electrics.

Don't forget the Channel Tunnel. (Which currently still bans dual fuel vehicles)