Swedish media report that a fire has destroyed 200 cars in an above ground car park in Märsta, north of Stockholm. The fire brigade was called at about 02:00 on 26th August. Kurt Holm of the fire brigade said that a floor had collapsed and the two-storey building could not be saved. The fire was too hot for the fire brigade to enter the car park. From outside the car park they were only able to prevent fire from spreading beyond the building.

It has been a long-standing belief that fires in above ground car parks do not spread to involve large numbers of cars. While above ground car park fires do not often become so large, here are some other examples:

Liverpool, UK on 31 December 2017

Cork, Ireland on 31 August 2019

Stavanger, Norway on 7 January 2020

All these fires led to the collapse of the building. None of these car parks was protected with sprinklers. There is a case for requiring sprinklers in above ground car parks, as is now the case in building codes used in the USA, to prevent disproportionate damage and make it possible for firefighters to reach the fire and complete extinguishment. The EFSN understands that new above ground car parks in Norway are more liely to be protected with sprinklers.