3 hurt, cars damaged after parking deck fire at Charlotte Douglas

CHARLOTTE — Three people are hurt after a large vehicle fire broke out on a parking deck at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Saturday morning, triggering a second alarm.

The fire happened at the hourly parking deck just after 9 a.m. Two officers suffered minor injuries and one other person was hurt. Charlotte Fire told Channel 9 four cars were damaged.

The Charlotte Fire Department tweeted Saturday night the fire started in the engine compartment of one of the vehicles. Investigators deemed the fire accidental.

Structure Fire update: 5488 Josh Birmingham Pkwy. Charlotte Fire Investigators deemed the fire to be accidental starting in the engine compartment of one of the vehicles. In total four vehicles were damaged causing 105k in damages. pic.twitter.com/Sl7S71iIgb
— Charlotte Fire Dept (@CharlotteFD) August 11, 2024

The fire caused $105,000 in damage, according to Charlotte FD.

Eight-year-old passenger Brooks Simpson and passenger John Thompson saw the smoke from their plane.

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“I saw a lot of smoke, Simpson said. “I’ll tell you it was very intense there was a lot of smoke, it was very hectic up here and those guys they were on top of it, I wouldn’t have gotten that close to it,” Thompson added.

Thompson attempted to go back in the parking garage to save his Shelby Cobra as the fire started. Officers stopped him before he could get in. His beloved Cobra was not damaged.

“You can see on my car you can see all the soot and stuff on my car, it was pretty rough, you couldn’t breathe you could hardly see, there was a lot of smoke,” Thompson said.

Channel 9 learned all the cars that were damaged were gasoline-powered cars.

Victim stays positive

Chuck Baldwin owns one of the vehicles left charred by the fire.

“You can see where that’s all melted,” Baldwin told Channel 9 on Monday.

He said he was out of town at a drag racing event in Detroit when he got the call that his Yukon Denali was burned in the fire.

“I honestly thought it was a prank call, and then I Googled it and saw there was a fire at the airport,” Baldwin said. “It was a great weekend, I just came back to no car.”

The Charlotte Fire Department said a GMC Acadia burst into flames, which spread to the others, including Baldwin’s.

For Baldwin, he says his car can be replaced. He’s thinking about the civilian and two officers who were hurt while trying to put out the fire.

“I wish a speedy recovery to those who got injured, it’s no fun; and I’m sorry for all of the interruptions to all of the folks who got delayed flights or missed flights over that,” Baldwin said.

Baldwin told Channel 9 he was actually flying back out of Charlotte on Monday for a work trip. He says once he gets another car, he’ll still park on the deck, but maybe on a different floor.

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