Man arrested over UK airport inferno that incinerated more than 1.4K cars

A man has been arrested in connection with a massive fire that broke out in a UK airport’s parking garage earlier this month and destroyed more than 1,400 cars while wreaking havoc on travel.

The suspect, identified only as a man in his 30s, was taken into custody on suspicion of “criminal damage” in the days after the Oct. 10 inferno at Luton Airport. He has since been freed on bail.

Bedfordshire Police said the man’s arrest was “precautionary” and that there is no evidence the fire was started intentionally, reported Sky News.

An investigation by the police so far suggests that the blaze ignited accidentally due to a faulty SUV running on diesel — possibly a Range Rover — that was parked on the third floor of Terminal Car Park 2 at Luton Airport, an international hub for budget airlines located just outside London.

“We are carrying out a thorough and diligent investigation into all potential lines of inquiry, as should be expected after such a major event,” a police spokesperson said, according to reporting by BBC News.

It took more than 100 firefighters to put out the inferno, which sent 5 people, among them 4 first responders and an airport official, to the hospital with smoke inhalation. A sixth person was treated at the scene.

The blaze incinerated more than 1,400 vehicles, caused a partial collapse of the newly constructed garage and left about 25,000 travelers stranded due to flight cancelations and delays.

Nearly two weeks after the fire, officials at Luton Airport were still figuring out how to safely remove 100 cars from the top level of the scorched garage in order to stabilize it.

“The structure remains fundamentally unsafe and the adverse weather over the last few days hasn’t helped,” an airport spokesperson said.

It is unlikely that any vehicles would be salvageable, Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said last week.

Once the cars are removed, the garage will likely be razed to the ground.