Man, 67, arrested on suspicion of arson after Gatwick car park fire
A 67-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson and bailed after a fire destroyed 140 vehicles at a car park used by Gatwick passengers.
How it was covered
- ITV was the only channel found covering it.
- Channel 5, BBC News, BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 4 and GB News: not found in tracked broadcasts.
- Sky News: covered online, not found on air.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.
A 67-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson after a fire destroyed around 140 vehicles at a car park near Gatwick Airport. The fire broke out at about 9pm on Saturday evening at a site in Crawley, West Sussex, which is used by passengers flying from the airport. Fire crews have now extinguished the blaze, but a police cordon remains in place, leaving many holidaymakers unable to access their cars. The site is not operated by Gatwick Airport itself but by a third-party company called Sapphire. A spokesperson for Sapphire said the incident has been traumatic for both the company and its customers. They added that they have not yet been able to gain access to the site, so the full extent of the damage is still unknown. Police have confirmed that the arrested man has been bailed pending further inquiries. Officers are appealing for any witnesses or anyone with information about how the fire started to come forward.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| A 67-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of arson. | |
| Around 140 cars were damaged or destroyed in the fire. | |
| The car park is run by a third-party company called Sapphire, not Gatwick Airport. | |
| The fire broke out at around 9pm on Saturday evening. | Reported by ITV |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The report focused on the immediate aftermath and human impact, with a reporter at the scene describing the tension for holidaymakers whose cars are behind the police tape. It included an interview with a Sapphire spokesperson who expressed trauma and uncertainty about the damage. The tone was factual but empathetic towards affected passengers.
- “a really tense couple of days for anyone whose car remains parked behind that police tape”
- “this has been traumatic for them as well as for the customers who are flying home to bad news”
- “He has now been bailed pending further inquiries”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.