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(CNN) – A fire that spread across a grassy area of Southwest Florida International Airport destroyed thousands of rental cars, fire department officials said.
The fire started Friday, spanning 6.1 acres and originally involved just 20 cars in the overflow area where rental cars are at Fort Myers airport, fire department officials said.
But when it was extinguished, the flames had destroyed more than 3,500 cars, a spokesman for the Lee County Port Authority told WINK, affiliate from CNN.
Melinda Avni, a Mitigation Specialist for the Caloosahatchee Florida Forest Service, said authorities were called to put out the fire around 5 p.m. Friday, when about 20 vehicles were involved.
“By the time we had units on the scene, we had 100 cars (on fire). We lost count after hundreds, ”he said.
Black clouds of smoke could be seen for miles around Fort Myers, a city of about 82,000 people in southwest Florida. Ground and air support was provided by the Florida Forest Service and various fire departments, Avni said.
The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office aviation unit made at least 80 aerial launches, it said in a Facebook post.
The forest service considered the fire contained at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, nearly 18 hours after it started, Avni said.
The thickets surrounding the overflow area caught fire and helped its rapid spread, but no structure at the airport was affected, Avni said. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is under investigation, he said.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokeswoman Arlene Salac said the fire had no impact on air traffic or operations at the airport.
In a Facebook post, the airport thanked all the agencies that responded to the fire.
“We appreciate your bravery and willingness to assist our aircraft rescue and firefighting department. Together they were able to keep all our passengers and airport visitors safe ”, said the airport.
CNN’s Eric Levenson contributed to this report.
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