Latest news with #JacksonvilleInternationalAirport
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Cars trapped, questions unanswered: Frustration grows after JIA parking garage fire
Nearly two weeks after a massive fire tore through a parking garage at Jacksonville International Airport, drivers with cars still trapped inside say they're frustrated by the lack of answers. Zachary Willis is one of them. 'It's more just very annoying,' Willis told Action News Jax. 'We don't know where to go. I don't know if I should be truck shopping, trying to contact my insurance.' His truck is still stuck on the third level of the airport's hourly garage, and despite the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) saying photos should be allowed, Willis said he hasn't been able to see the damage. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< 'I know my vehicle is in the restricted area,' Willis said. 'They were like, 'We don't have it registered.' Until yesterday, when they said, 'We've identified your tag.' I'm like, oh, that's interesting.' Willis said the airport call center hasn't been much help, and communication has been inconsistent. According to the Jacksonville Aviation Authority, about 100 vehicles remain trapped inside the garage. An estimated 50 cars were damaged or burned in the fire. Some of the impacted drivers are now turning to legal help. 'I've reviewed every single one of these cases that's come into the office,' said Ryan Will, an attorney with Morgan & Morgan. He said the firm is representing about 20 clients affected by the fire. 'What we've informed all of our clients is the statute of limitations in the state of Florida is two years,' Will explained. 'The State Fire Marshal is working to determine the origin and the cause of the fire.' Will said each case is different, and proving negligence will depend on the results of that investigation and what evidence is uncovered. Jacksonville City Councilmember and State Farm agent Matt Carlucci said his and his wife's vehicles were also in the garage — but they were able to get them out last week. 'But a lot of people were not as lucky,' Carlucci said. He's encouraging drivers to contact their insurance providers now. 'Call your insurance company,' Carlucci said. 'Say, 'Can we file a pre-claim?' I think by now, if they haven't gotten their car back, in all likelihood, they very well may have damage.' The Jacksonville Aviation Authority has contacted most of the 700 vehicle owners affected but said it is still working to reach the remaining few. If your car was in the JIA garage, you can check its status or contact the airport for assistance by visiting [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ATF still investigating Jacksonville International Airport garage fire, structure could be salvaged
Jacksonville International Airport leaders say it is still too early to determine what will happen to the south end of the Hourly Parking Garage after a fire on May 16 that burned about 50 cars. Michael Stewart, VP of External Affairs with the Jacksonville Aviation Authority, said the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) is treating the third and fourth floors of the garage as a crime scene until they can determine the cause of the fire. While the ATF conducts its investigations, about 100 cars between the two most impacted floors will have to stay where they are. 'We still have a crime scene area and a structurally compromised area that we cannot get into,' Stewart said. Once the cause of the fire is determined, that's when Stewart said construction crews can start to work their way through the third and fourth floors, assess the damage, and decide how the structure can be repaired. PHOTO GALLERY: Parking garage fire at Jacksonville International Airport RELATED: Jacksonville International Airport Hourly Parking Garage Fire: Timeline of events Right now, Stewart said there is hope that the structure can be salvaged without demolition, but there is no way to say that for sure until crews make their assessment. He said the crews have already started to shore up, or reinforce the strength of the structure with beams and columns, on the lower-level floors of the garage. Stewart touts the success of the airport's efforts to reunite drivers with their cars. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] 'Seven hundred vehicle owners were contacted in this process, and the call center made contact with 3,500 people just last week,' Stewart said. He said there are still about 17 people that the airport has not made contact with, though. For those people who still need to make contact with airport officials, Stewart said they can: Go to and supply the information required Or call 904-741-2710 and leave a message [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Stewart also said that while the airport has made moves to accommodate the parking lapse with the opening of 300 economy lot spots, he's still encouraging flyers to be dropped off instead of parking. 'We are going to be down and challenged with respect to parking, but we have enough parking for people coming to the airport now,' he said. Stewart said there is no estimated timeline for when the ATF could complete its investigation. Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Airport reopens most parking areas, reunites some owners and cars ahead of travel weekend
Owners are beginning to get their cars back nearly a week after a fire devastated parts of a parking garage at the Jacksonville International Airport. The process of moving cars out of the South Hourly Garage and into a temporary lot for pickup began Wednesday night, and officials said the process will likely take multiple days. 'When we get to a safe vehicle we'll log the tag, cross-reference it with what we have in our database and give the person a call and tell them their vehicle is available,' said Greg Willis, Marketing and Public Relations Manager at the Jacksonville Aviation Authority. 'We're working round the clock to do what we can to get as many out in a safe manner and safely relocate them.' Once inside the lot of Pecan Park Road, owners can grab them whenever they're able. Car owners can submit their information for updates on the airport's website. Just in time for the Memorial Day travel weekend, JAA announced Thursday that all parking areas have also reopened, aside from the southern portion of the Hourly Garage. Related: Navigating limited airport parking for Memorial Day weekend: Here are some options Not everyone is getting their cars back right now. Those whose cars were severely damaged or were in the collapse zone will have to wait. 'One thing I've learned since last Friday is one problem at a time, and this is today's problem, getting people the vehicles that we can salvage,' said Willis. Several people who have been impacted are already seeking legal help. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Below is a statement from law firm Morgan & Morgan: 'We have been retained by several people impacted by the massive fire at Jacksonville International Airport's Hourly Parking Garage whose cars, along with dozens of others, have been destroyed. We have already begun to investigate what went wrong and what could have been done to prevent this fire. We will work to uncover any negligence that contributed to this scary and dangerous incident and hold potentially responsible parties accountable for the damage caused.' When informed about the legal firm's investigation, Jacksonville International Airport told Action News Jax that right now, it is 'focused on reuniting passengers who parked in the hourly garage with their vehicles, stabilizing the comprised garage structure and returning the airport to normal operations.' [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
More cars picked up from Jacksonville International Airport garage after fire closed it for days
The Jacksonville International Airport opened up its call center for the second day on Wednesday, telling people with cars still in the Hourly Parking Garage when they can come by to pick them up. Some of them have been waiting for five days since the garage first closed because of the car fire Action News Jax has been telling you about since it happened on Friday. 'This is very much a relief,' one woman from Amelia Island, who didn't want to be named, told Action News Jax after seeing her car hadn't been damaged when she picked it up Wednesday morning. She said she'd parked it on the top floor of the south end of the hourly garage, one floor above where the Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department said the fire started. 'I just want to tell everyone to make sure their car is there before coming back to the airport,' she said. Action News Jax told you yesterday when the Jacksonville Aviation Authority released a report saying the fire had started after a BMW was seen smoking on the security cameras inside the garage. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] The report said the smoke was seen at around 12:03 p.m., about four hours after it said the car had parked. One minute later, at 12:04 p.m., the report said the car caught on fire. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, along with the state fire marshal, is still investigating exactly how the car fire started. 'I saw the Jacksonville airport was on fire and said 'Oh my God, my car is on that floor!'' said Cheryl Marlow, who picked up her car from the garage after coming back from a vacation to Mexico. She tells Action News Jax she'd seen the news of the fire while she was away. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] 'I thought to myself, 'I need a vacation from my vacation,'' Marlow said. Action News Jax has requested the security camera video from inside of the garage showing the car fire starting on Friday. JAA said it can't share the video with us at this time. JIA is keeping its call center open to let drivers know when they can pick up their cars from the garage. We've asked airport leaders if there are any plans to try and open more parking for the Memorial Day weekend, but we're still waiting to hear back. Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
JFRD Battalion Chief says he has not seen anything like JIA parking garage fire before
Only on Action News Jax, we're getting a firsthand account of what it was like fighting the devastating parking garage fire at Jacksonville International Airport on Friday. The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department Battalion Chief who commanded those firefighters returned to the garage Tuesday at JIA with Action News Jax's Madison Foglio. 'My fire station is over on Main Street and as soon as we got to 95, we could see the column of smoke so we knew we had a very large fire,' JFRD Battalion Chief Charles Drysdale said. 'We're getting additional reports of people evacuating, having trouble evacuating. So we knew it was all hands on deck.' The fire broke out in the south portion of the Hourly Parking Garage around noon on Friday. JFRD and Jacksonville Aviation Authority officials confirm at least 50 vehicles were destroyed as a result of the fire. RELATED: Jacksonville International Airport Hourly Parking Garage Fire: Timeline of events Drysdale served as the incident commander for this fire. In a nutshell, he was in charge of the firefighters' response to the fire. 'A lot of explosions. The fire was bright orange. As you can see, it's basically about 200 feet long, going about 40-50 foot up in the air. You can hear the glass breaking as the windows are failing, the tires are blowing up. Lots of things on cars can catch fire. More than likely, the gas tanks were rupturing and pouring gas on the fire, so we were getting a lot of sounds that you normally wouldn't get from a smaller fire,' Drysdale said. He was the one who made the call to pull the firefighters out of the garage. Foglio asked Drysdale what made him make that decision to pull the firefighters out of the garage. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] 'The report of the initial company, Engine 16, and his officer about the conditions. Plus, what we can see and our concerns about structural collapse,' Drysdale said. Drysdale said that one of his main concerns when combatting this fire was the water supply. 'To give the airport a lot of credit, we were able to flow, probably at its peak, 4,000 gallons a minute of water, which is a tremendous amount of water. And we had that on the fire within 14 minutes,' Drysdale said. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] In the end, Drysdale said the fire could have been a lot worse. 'If we would not got a handle on it, it would have spread throughout the entire parking garage maybe into the other parking garage,' Drysdale said. No word yet on what started the fire, but on Tuesday afternoon, JAA released the incident report listing a mid-sized dark colored BMW as the car appearing to catch on fire first in the Hourly Parking Garage on Friday. Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
