Fire destroys 100 cars after tearing through Gatwick Airport parking site

ROWFONT FIRE 23/8/26
The fire engulfed dozens of cars (Picture: Eddie Mitchell)

A fire tore through a car park near London Gatwick Airport, West Sussex, on Saturday, destroying more than 100 cars.

The ‘significant and complex’ blaze erupted at Caldyne Business Park in Rowfant, near Crawley, at around 8.55pm.

No one was injured in the fire, which roared well into the early hours.

The car park is often used by holidaymakers, those staying at nearby holiday parks and local businesses.

Megan Maynard’s brother’s car was among those gutted by the inferno.

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She told a Crawley Facebook group: ‘As many of you will know, yesterday’s devastating fire in Rowfant caused millions of pounds’ worth of damage and destroyed the livelihoods of so many people – one of them being my brother.

ROWFONT FIRE 23/8/26
The blaze caused ‘millions of pounds’ of damage (Picture: Eddie Mitchell)

‘My brother and his best friend ran K&L Automotive, a breakdown and recovery business based at the site and in just one night everything they had worked so hard to build was taken from them.’

Ashley Riley, who started a GoFundMe to raise money for the family, added: ‘They have lost their livelihoods and the amount of money to replace everything is [immeasurable].

‘They all have families to support and will now struggle to get life back on track and to rebuild their business from scratch.’

More than 2,000 homes nearby suffered blackouts when electricity had to be shut off after flames damaged high voltage equipment.

Power has since been restored. UK Power Networks, which provides electricity to the area, is reporting no known outages.

The cause of the fire is unclear, but fire services say it involved a workshop, electric and heavy goods vehicles and cylinders.

A man, 67, has been arrested on suspicion of arson. He has been bailed.

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