Fire destroys 100 cars after tearing through Gatwick Airport parking site

| Senior science and technology reporter Published August 24, 2026 10:49am Updated August 24, 2026 10:51am 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 said on Facebook that her brother’s car was gutted by the inferno. Sign up for all of the latest stories Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens. The business he had spent years building, K&L Automotive, was destroyed ‘in just one night’. The blaze caused ‘millions of pounds’ of damage to just one family (Picture: Eddie Mitchell) Ashley Riley, who started a GoFundMe to raise money for the family, said: ‘They have lost their livelihoods and the amount of money to replace everything is unmeasurable. ‘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 and no outages are being reported by UK Power Networks. 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. Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here. For more stories like this, check our news page. Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here. Arrow MORE: Car destroyed and huge hole left in roof after London house fire Arrow MORE: Travel disrupted to major airport after train ‘catches fire’ Arrow MORE: Hero fought flames with hosepipe to save family inside home engulfed by fatal fire News Updates Stay on top of the headlines with daily email updates.