Range Rover fire which sparked Luton airport car park collapse comes six years after Land Rover destroyed Liverpool’s Echo Arena car park – and six months after 4×4 recalls
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The Range Rover fire which sparked last night’s Luton airport car park inferno comes six years after a Land Rover went up in flames at Liverpool’s Echo Arena’s car park.
The blaze at Luton airport yesterday also comes six months after Land Rover recalled several models of the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport to address issues that could potentially lead to fires.
In 2017 a Land Rover burst into flames within a multi-storey car park in Liverpool, creating a 1,000C inferno that incinerated up to 1,600 vehicles. The fire was hot enough to melt aluminium and engulfed seven floors of the parking structure at the Echo Arena on Liverpool’s waterfront.
And last year a mother-of-two told said she was forced to leap from a window when her Range Rover exploded. Sami Webster was stuck inside the car by the locked doors as plumes of smoke began seeping through the dashboard.
Ms Webster, 30, managed to squeeze through the window to escape after the vehicle burst into flames. In the process the mother suffered two broken ribs and smoke inhalation.
Last night, 100 firefighters spent 12 hours battling the inferno at Luton’s Terminal Car Park Two when the £20million block was engulfed by flames and caved in just before 9pm.
Investigators believe last night’s blaze at Luton airport’s multi-storey car park was started when a diesel Range Rover (pictured) suffered an electrical fault or leaking fuel line
Burnt out cars seen at the multi-storey car park near the Echo Arena in Liverpool in 2018
A handout photo made available by Merseyside Fire and Rescue showing burnt out vehiclesd fire at Liverpool Echo Arena car park
Investigators believe the blaze was started when a diesel Range Rover suffered an electrical fault or leaking fuel line.
The temperature of the flames soared well over the 600C (1,110F) that would destroy the building’s integrity, and one fire officer said it would have hit six million watts. Five people were taken to hospital during the fire, which was finally extinguished this morning.
Ms Webster bought the Range Rover from Prestige Cars in York for £16,696 on finance earlier that year.
‘I got a letter from Range Rover at the beginning of April saying the car was scheduled to go in for a recall on April 13, but they never had a courtesy car available, so the recall appointment was put back until April 28,’ she said.
Another mother-of-two’s Range Rover also exploded last year while she was on her way home from work in Wales last year
Lauren Griffiths, 37, had been driving from Ammanford, South Wales, when her £58,000 Range Rover Velar lost power
As many as 1,200 vehicles were affected by the collapse of the car park at Luton airport last night
The charred remains of cars in the Luton Airport multi-storey following last night’s devastating fire
A witness described the speed in which the blaze tore through the car park’s upper floor as ‘incredible’
READ MORE: Moment Range Rover explodes before £20m multi-storey structure collapses – sparking travel chaos for up to 50,000 passengers
‘This happens just days ahead of that recall, but Range Rover Bolton were quick to tell me that they take no responsibility for the fire. The recall was about engine management, steering and emissions.’
Another mother-of-two’s Range Rover also exploded last year as she arrived home from work.
Lauren Griffiths, 37, had been driving from Ammanford, South Wales, when her £58,000 Range Rover Velar lost power.
She only bought the car three years ago, in November 2018. The foot health specialist had managed to park the car at her three-storey semi-detached home in Llwyngwern, Hendy, when it set on fire.
Although she was able to escape from the burning car, flames soon spread to her home and her neighbours’ houses.
Range Rover will not take liability for the car as it said the vehicle was two months past its warranty, Lauren claimed.
Although she had all her MOTs done with Land Rover and ‘loved’ her car, she was shocked the company wouldn’t help her.
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