More than 3,500 rental cars were damaged or destroyed in a huge fire that burned near a Florida airport. The cars were in a grassy area used as an overflow lot by car rental companies at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers when thousands of vehicles caught fire. The blaze began Friday, spanned 15 acres and originally involved only 20 cars in the grassy rental car overflow area at the airport in Fort Myers, fire department officials said.

Firefighters managed to contain the blaze using helicopters to dump water on the flames that stretched across the lot late on Friday night. Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said that ‘over 80 drops’ were made on ‘this massive fire’.

Witnesses said they heard multiple small explosions and flames leaping high into the air as the flames spread across the area.

By around 8pm, the fire appeared to be spreading with the flames getting higher as two helicopters continued to drop water and firetrucks emptied their tanks in an attempt to halt the spread of the blaze.

It is thought the car rental parking lot was busier than usual due to the coronavirus lockdown as fewer customers had hired vehicles while most flights are suspended and travel restrictions in place.

The vehicles were not occupied, according to the Fort Myers News-Press.

Another 3,850 vehicles were undamaged, according to airport spokeswoman Vicki Moreland.

A spokesperson for the FAA said the fire did not affect air traffic or operations at the airport.

In a Facebook post, the airport thanked all the agencies who responded to the blaze, saying, “We appreciate their courage and willingness to help our Aircraft Rescue & Fire Fighting department. Together they were able to keep all our passengers and airport visitors safe.”

Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the fire.