More than 3,500 vehicles destroyed following massive airport fire

A massive fire mysteriously broke out over the weekend at the Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Meyers, Florida, spanning 15 acres.

It was originally thought that the blaze destroyed 20 rental vehicles which were parked in the grass overflow area.

But according to a Lee County Port Authority spokesperson, the fire ended up engulfing over 3,500 of the vehicles by the time it was extinguished.

The massive fire sent black plumes of smoke into the sky. Rental cars around the country have been put in overflow storage in empty parking lots and fields because of the decline in travel due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Fortunately, nobody was injured and the airport was also undamaged during the 18-hour blaze. According to witnesses, there were several explosions and showers of sparks. Firefighters were assisted in controlling the fire by helicopters dropping 80 airdrops.

Aside from minivans including the Dodge Grand Caravan and economy cars like the Nissan Versa (known as the Tiida in our market), it is hard to tell what other types of vehicles were destroyed from these photos…

The Florida Forestry Service of Caloosahatchee and more than 10 departments helped to contain the blaze of which the origins are unknown at this time. The investigation by the State Fire Marshal is reportedly underway.

By the fire's end, 3,516 cars were damaged or completely burned, while 3,850 were saved.