It was originally a small brush fire… but ended into a massive inferno after thousands of rental cars started burning out-of-control at RSW International Airport in Fort Myers, Florida on April 3, 2020.
There were 3,516 cars destroyed or damaged by the fire and 3,850 remained undamaged.
This is the new record for most non-junk cars to burn in one fire.
The previous record was 1460 cars that burned when the car-carrier ship ‘Auto Banner’ went up in flames in coastal Incheon (South Korea) (back on 2018-05-21).
RSW Airport car lot fire pic.twitter.com/tjVcPtIxYV
— Charlotte County Sheriff's Office (@CCSOFLSheriff) April 4, 2020
And moving down to third place is a blaze that destroyed 1400 cars in a waterfront parking garage in coastal Liverpool (Britain) on New Years Eve in 2017 (2017-12-31).
The Aviation Unit is at it again. Chief Pilot Shane Engelauf flew the Huey and completed over 80 drops over this massive fire at the RSW Airport car lot in Fort Myers. 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZvLDabFLVc
— Charlotte County Sheriff's Office (@CCSOFLSheriff) April 4, 2020
So this new fire was bigger than the previous two biggest car fires combined! [Jumping Jack Flash Hypothesis]