JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – More than a month after a devastating fire in the hourly parking garage at Jacksonville International Airport, the BMW X3 believed to have sparked that fire has been removed from the garage.
A spokesperson with the Jacksonville Aviation Authority confirmed that a photo shared with News4JAX showing a fire-damaged vehicle being lowered by crane onto a tow truck is the BMW in question.
Press play above to watch the BMW being removed from the hourly garage
About 1,200 cars were parked in the garage at the time the fire started.
Nearly 50 cars were damaged, and hundreds of them had to be left there initially until drivers were contacted and told they could safely retrieve their vehicles.
The BMW will now be removed to a secure area and investigated by ATF agents and JAA’s insurance company as they work to determine the cause of the fire.
JAA officials estimated earlier this month that it could cost at least $38 million to repair the damage and those repairs could take at least 18 months.
“We have not had the engineers go in and specifically determine how much will be demolished and what needs to be replaced,” said Michael Stewart, JAA vice president of external affairs. “We figured that is a good number to start with.”
MORE: Full coverage of JAX garage fire and aftermath
The third floor, where the fire started on May 16, and the fourth floor of the southern portion of the garage were the most damaged, with part of the area collapsing.
“The structural engineers will have to get in there and see a little bit better as to the damage, and we have to stabilize that before that happens,” Stewart said.
JAA said the fire eliminated more than 500 public parking spaces and 90 rental car spaces, and caused more than $3 million in losses for parking fees and car rentals.
Stewart said the drivers’ insurance companies are going to have to pay for damages to their cars.
