A row of vehicles are gutted in a parking garage at Jacksonville International Airport after a fire May 16, 2025. | Jacksonville Aviation Authority
Published on August 29, 2025 at 10:46 am
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Despite a massive fire in a parking garage last spring, Jacksonville International Airport says travelers shouldn’t have any trouble parking during Labor Day weekend, one of the busiest travel times of the year.
Jacksonville Airport Authority spokesperson Michael Stewart said the airport can handle hundreds of additional travelers even though parts of the hourly parking garage have been demolished.
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Before the fire, the airport expanded economy parking and valet parking in anticipation of building a third parking garage, Stewart said. “So we accelerated it right after the fire and got those additional spaces open soon after the fire,” he said.
The state fire marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are still determining what caused the fire May 16 and whether anyone was at fault.
The fire began on the third deck of the garage, forcing the airport to shut down for much of the afternoon as dozens of fire trucks converged on the scene. The fire burned dozens of vehicles and caused major damage to the parking garage as parts of the structure collapsed.
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Investigators believe the fire started with a BMW crossover parked in the garage.
Work continues to repair and reopen the garage. The Airport Authority has asked City Council for permission to shift $38 million of its funds from one account to another to pay for the garage’s revival.
The airport is not asking for additional city funding, Stewart said.
The airport is self-insured, but those funds may not come for two years, he said.
More of the structure may have to be removed, although the plan is to rebuild the garage atop parts of the current one. A reopening in expected in less than two years, Stewart said.
“We had a super-wild guess on what it’s going to cost. We have no idea,” he said. “It will not be totally torn down, and that is the determination being made by the engineering group right now.”
