DENVER (KDVR) — A fire sparked on Denver International Airport property on Tuesday afternoon because of a lightning strike, DIA confirmed, and was contained within an hour.
The fire was reported near 88th and Gun Club Road at about 4:22 p.m., which is west of the airfield. The airport told FOX31 that there was no impact to operations, but the airport had been placed on a ground delay before the fire sparked due to thunderstorms in the area.
The airport had been on a ground delay since 3:30 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which is expected to last until 8 p.m. due to thunderstorms. The ground delay was causing an average of 62-minute delays for flights arriving at the airport.
According to FlightAware, a flight-tracking website, about 555 flights were delayed at DIA as of 5:30 p.m. The majority of flights experiencing delays were through Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, according to FlightAware.
The Denver Fire Department was on scene as of 5 p.m. and said that they were investigating “possible multiple grass fires,” with an unknown cause and unknown extent.
The fires were contained as of 5:22 p.m.
Aurora Fire Rescue was also tapped to respond to a second possible grass fire south of the airport while Denver crews continued to mitigate issues on DIA property. However, the crews were called off shortly after they were asked to respond.
