A fire at Caldyne Business Park near Crawley destroyed about 140 vehicles just after 21:00 BST on Saturday, leaving a parking site used by Gatwick holidaymakers badly damaged. Electricity later returned to more than 2,000 homes that lost power during the blaze.
West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service sent eight fire engines and water carriers to the scene at the height of the fire. Crews were still there on Monday dampening hotspots, while Sussex Police said a 67-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of arson and bailed pending further inquiries.
140 vehicles at Caldyne Business Park
About 140 vehicles were destroyed in the parking site used by Gatwick holidaymakers, turning one night’s fire into a large insurance and logistics problem for drivers who left cars there before travel. The immediate practical issue for owners is damage handling, because the fire service has told people whose vehicles were hit to contact their parking operator directly.
2,000 homes lost power on Saturday as the blaze spread beyond the parked cars and into local infrastructure. Electricity has since been restored, which removes the household disruption but does not change the scale of the incident for drivers now dealing with loss of vehicle access and damage checks.
Gatwick Airport and the site
The parking site is regularly used by people flying from Gatwick Airport, but Gatwick Airport does not own the site. That distinction matters for anyone trying to work out who handles claims or complaints: the place where the fire happened and the airport people use for travel are not the same operator.
Eight fire engines and water carriers were needed at the height of the blaze, a sign of how quickly a parked-vehicle fire can move into a multi-agency response. With crews still at Caldyne Business Park on Monday, the remaining job was no longer rescue but containment, clearing hotspots before the site can be fully handed back.
Sussex Police and arson
A 67-year-old man remains bailed pending further inquiries after being arrested on suspicion of arson. For readers with vehicles at the site, that means the cause is now part of an active police inquiry, while the service advice is still the most immediate route for anyone working out where to start.
What caused the blaze at Caldyne Business Park is the unresolved question that now matters most to owners, operators and insurers alike.
