Fire at Southwest Florida International Airport destroys 3,500 rental cars

A brush fire tore through a grassy area near Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers late last Friday, injuring no one but destroying millions of dollars worth of vehicles in its path.

Thousands of rental cars have been destroyed after a fire ripped through a vehicle park in the United States over the weekend.

Harrowing footage has been shared online by the local police force, showing thick clouds of black smoke rising from the wreckage as emergency responders try to tackle the fire.

Firefighters were called to put out a blaze spanning 15 acres over the weekend in Florida.

A total of 3,516 cars were damaged or destroyed and another 3,850 vehicles were undamaged by the fire, according to airport spokesperson Vicki Moreland.

Bystanders told local media outlets that they heard a number of small explosions coming from the auto park as the fire burned through the site.

There are plenty of hot deals to find on rental cars amid the coronavirus crisis - except in southwestern Florida, where 3,500 of them just went up in flames.

Drivers offering vehicle hire services in Florida, USA, are counting losses after fire that broke out at Southwest Florida International Airport razed down over 3,500 cars.

Mitigation Specialist for Florida Forestry Service of Caloosahatchee, Melinda Avni, told CNN that the bush surrounding the overflow lot caught fire and aided in the quick spread of the blaze. It wasn't until 10:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, approximately 18 hours after the fire started, that the forestry service deemed the blaze to be contained. Fortunately, there are no reports of injuries and no structures at the airport were damaged. And investigators are still "trying to determine the cause of the fire" which isn't sketchy at all right now. "We lost count after the hundreds", she said.

Arlene Salac, a spokeswoman for the FAA, said the fire did not effect air traffic or operations at the airport. "Together they were able to keep all our passengers and airport visitors safe", the airport said.