2020 seems to be the gift that just keeps on giving, and thousands of rental cars over in Florida met a fiery demise when a bush fire got out of control, and spread into a nearby storage area.
According to a local report, the area is used as overflow car parking for the Southwest Florida International Airport, and thousands of rental cars are stored there when not in use.
While around 3,850 cars were spared from the roaring flames, no less than 3,500 were completely destroyed in the monumental blaze. Thankfully, no one was injured throughout the recovery efforts.
Witnesses described hundreds of small explosions occurring as the fire took hold of the vehicles, with fire and sparks be showered across the area. Plumes of black smoke from the blaze could be seen from 32km away.
The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office posted about the blaze on its Facebook page, saying:
"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. 🔥🔥🔥The Florida Fire Service reported over 100 vehicles were damaged."
Thankfully, the airport avoided damage as the storage area is quite a way away from the terminals. The access road to the airport was closed for obvious reasons, so a few passengers had to make changes to their trip.
The cause of the fire remains unknown, but the weather over in Florida didn't help subdue the blaze. The state has recorded extremely low rainfall, and high temperatures recently, with another 65 bush fires burning at the same time as this one.