this fire must have gone un-noticed for quite a while before anyone alerted the emergency services , the heat given off from the combustables that make up a vehicle lead to very rapid fire spread long before the fuel tank gets involved and has already said water isn't much cop on fuel fires and the amount of water needed to extinguish a single vehicle fire is around 1000 litres depending its size and the skill of the fire fighter doing the task

Maybe a 4-4 petrol with a leaky fuel pipe or lpg fail but would be interesting whose it was if anyone's FB groups or so forth shed a light. _____________________________________________________
Zambezi silver Vogue Se unique

Funny how people’s perception of cars is very different.
1 eye-witness said it was “an old Land Rover” that was on fire. Got - 2017 SDV8 Autobiography in Loire Blue
Had- 2008 TDV8 Vogue SE in Java black
Had - 2007 S/C in Stornoway Grey

Unnecessary quote removed

Wasn't she an ex footballers wife? "Old" probably means it needed it's first wash.

Notice in the pic there doesn't seem to be any water on the cars in the foreground. So although the fire is already well alight no sprinklers have gone off ???

The report states there were no sprinklers. As a firefighter, I can definitely say that sprinklers would have reduced the size of the fire massively by cooling the surrounding cars. The fire would not have spread so quickly allowing firefighters on the scene to get closer to the initial fire. Fire engines are equipped with foam which can be mixed with the water sprayed onto the fire.

Car fires can spread to nearby cars, but it is not the fuel that catches fire first it is usually the plastics and material used in upholstery etc.

I have been to hundreds of car fires in my 30 years in the job. I have yet to experience a car exploding (like they do in films). Once fuel lines are ruptured the fuel burns as it pours out. Fuel tank explosions are very rare. LPG is a bit more risky. Tyres and suspension units can often go up with a bang though.

I would guess that the initial fire was started by a faulty electrical component or possibly a fuel leak onto a hot engine or exhaust. (It is also possible that somebody deliberately started the fire of course). Those are the most common causes of car fires. No longer FF owner but still interested. Present car Jaguar XE
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Previous car Td6 SE
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Previous LR- Disco 300TDi Auto

Geez it's burnt right through the concrete floor. All the rebar's exposed!
Can't imagine that can be repaired. A few cars in the back seem to have been lucky.
No sign on the 322 in this pic either.

Click image to enlarge

Thank you Mikey for the helpful explanation.

I thought all these car parks were covered by CCTV , if somebody had grabbed a fire extinguisher rather than a camera phone then maybe it wouldn't have been so bad.

I've just been shot down on another site

I only said that "Old" probably was as old as implied, and that certain more familiar LR products have a habit of getting a bit hot under the bonnet...

And I was right it wasn't a bloody Land Rover.... they might as well have said jeep or 4x4

Maybe they'll stop trying to jam as many cars as they can into a small space and leave enough of a gap to open the doors, that would have slowed it down a little, plus how can they not have sprinklers?? I'd have thought in this EU nanny state, that we find ourselves in, sprinklers, PPE, and high viz would be compulsory  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

Maybe the FBH was on hot !!!!! 2015 4.4 AB
GSXR 1000 K5
R1 1998

miggit wrote:

plus how can they not have sprinklers?? I'd have thought in this EU nanny state, that we find ourselves in, sprinklers, PPE, and high viz would be compulsory

I do recall when I dealt with multi-storey car parks in the past there was not Building Regulation requirement for sprinklers only natural ventilation, mechanical ventilation or a combination of the two bearing in mind natural ventilation is ineffective if there is no wind. I have a feeling that the Regulations are about to be updated to include sprinklers if they haven't already.
Problem is the Regulations are never backdated to include new requirements so it is likely there will be many such car parks without sprinklers for the foreseeable future.
Be careful where you chose to park your car.

"Experiments indicate that the danger of spread of flame from a burning vehicle to adjacent vehicles is quite low "

Bet that author is hiding in shame... it's not rocket science, pack them in with under a 2 foot gap (12-18 inches with my experience) and it's bound to spread

I expect that the extra ventilation (wind) didn't help things  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

your right there miggit ! you get the venture effect which sucks in even more flowing fresh air and like Grenfell , woof ! up it goes like a rocket unfortunately

As a retired fireman, I can tell you that sprinklers would have significantly reduced the spread of fire. As Mikeyjd said, it would have allowed attending crews to get closer to the seat of fire. But this would have taken around 20 mins after the fire being reported. Say 10 mins for them to arrive and another 10 before they could get the water where it needs to be. Not easy to get water up 3 floors up unless it has a wet or dry riser fitted. Looking at the photos it was still a fairly small fire when first discovered, but it seems the fire crews had lost the battle before they arrived. Shows how fast it had spread. Sprinklers would have contained the fire for long enough to make a big difference to the outcome. Maybe no more than a dozen cars lost. Even a foam or dry powder extinguisher would have put that out when first discovered.
How many of you carry an extinguisher.....!!!! 2007 Vogue TDV8 in Zermatt Silver with Charcoal