Smoke billows from the hourly parking garage at Jacksonville International Airport on Friday, May 16, 2025. | News4Jax
Published on May 16, 2025 at 5:11 pm
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A fire that apparently began on the third deck of Jacksonville International Airport’s hourly parking garage early Friday afternoon forced the airport to shut down for much of the afternoon.
Airport services resumed around 5 p.m. Friday, but the “multivehicle fire” caused major damage to the parking garage. Parts of the structure collapsed during the blaze.
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The fire was first reported around noon. It apparently started with one vehicle then spread to about 50, Fire Chief Keith Powers said. Smoke was visible “pretty much all over town,” Powers said.
“Most of that fire is knocked down, but obviously we have to be able to get inside of the vehicles, inside the compartment space to fully extinguish it,” Powers said. “Because there was a partial collapse on the second and third floors, and then a secondary collapse about 30 minutes later, we are not putting firefighters in there. We are using drones to look for anybody that might be in there.”
There is no evidence that anyone might be inside any of the cars in the garage, as engineering teams are assessing the full damage in what will be “a long process,” Powers said.
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No exact cause for the fire is known, Powers said.
“The airport has video of it, and we’ve seen the video and we know it started with one individual vehicle that caught on fire,” Powers said. “But we don’t know any details about that vehicle — what kind of vehicle it was, whether it was electric or a gas-powered vehicle.”
Traffic in and out of the airport was shut down after the fire was discovered. A number of incoming flights were initially listed as canceled on Jacksonville International Airport’s website, while most departures were listed as on schedule despite a banner on the website at 3 p.m. stating that the airport was closed “due to a fire emergency in the parking garage.”
As cleanup continues, airport officials say travelers need to check with airlines on schedule changes, if any, as well as find a way to get to the airport that does not involve parking there.
“Midterm, it means we have less parking spaces to provide,” airport authority spokesperson Michael Stewart said. “And we suggest that travelers coming to the airport that are catching flights either use Uber or Lyft or some of the off-airport parking options that are available.”
Rental car returns also could be affected, so contact those companies, he said.
The fire was reported only a few hours after the airport posted on X that its daily garage and surface lot were filled, while the hourly garage was nearing capacity.
The parking garage was last inspected by the city in October, Powers said.
The hourly parking garage is at the southern end of the airport parking complex, right next to where a third garage is now under construction at an estimated cost of $100 million. The new 151,000-square-foot garage will provide an additional 2,200 spaces. It is scheduled to open in late 2026 with six levels and room for 2,000 vehicles.
Mayor Donna Deegan said the fire Friday will not affect construction of the third parking garage, “but for the short-term, we are down a few thousand parking spots.”
The airport is also building a 190,000-square-foot Concourse B that will bring six new gates to the terminal, adding to the 20 on Concourses A and C.
