As many as 300 cars are thought to have been destroyed when a Norwegian airport parking garage went up in flames on Tuesday afternoon.
Bloomberg reports that the blaze at the Stavanger Airport parking structure started at around 3:30 pm. Local police say they were initially notified that an electric car on the ground floor of the parking facility was on fire (though that was later disproved with reports suggesting that it was a diesel vehicle instead). Before long, the fire spread, destroying hundreds of cars. Authorities were able to partially contain the fire by 9:30 p.m. local time.
Avinor, the garage operator that runs the parking structure, released a statement after the blaze saying it had yet to be determined exactly how many cars were destroyed. It said that the garage, which houses up to 3,000 vehicles, was almost full at the time of the inferno and that parts of the building collapsed under the intense heat.
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“It is unclear how and when it is possible to clarify which cars are damaged and are no longer drivable. It is unclear how and when it is possible to begin work on removing the cars that were not damaged. It is likely that it will take some time before these points can be clarified and car owners can get information.”
While police were initially told it was an EV that started the blaze, local media outlet Dagbladet subsequently discovered it may have instead been an older diesel car.
All flights from the airport were canceled on the day of the blaze. Investigations continue.
https://twitter.com/Nws_MENA/status/1214632795076739074
A fire spread inside the carpark at Sola airport today, part of building collapsed, 300 cars destroyed. Firefighters have been working for hours to get control. No one hurt, 1700 people evacuated away.
Flight updates: https://t.co/akOZgGJzgi #stavanger https://t.co/bw1KJJIZ50 pic.twitter.com/DEEiYzKsfn— Ellen Hagen 𓅃 (@northbird_ellen) January 7, 2020