A fire has broken out at RAF Fairford, the Gloucestershire air base currently being used by the United States Air Force to launch bombing operations against Iran, in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Several fire crews were deployed to the incident overnight, with footage circulating online appearing to show smoke rising from what is believed to be the base’s commissary — a shop providing food and supplies to personnel. Further images from the scene showed the building’s roof had collapsed as firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control. No injuries were reported and no RAF aircraft were damaged. The fire is thought to have originated in an old, disused section of the building, though the full extent of damage to US Air Force facilities remains unclear.
A spokesman for Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service said crews were responding to “a fire in a commercial building in the Fairford area,” adding that local residents were advised to keep doors and windows closed due to smoke.
The incident occurs at a sensitive moment for the base. The Government granted the US Air Force permission to use RAF Fairford in March, following the outbreak of the war in the Middle East, allowing American bombers to deploy for what have been described as “defensive” operations against Iran. Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to open the base to US forces significantly shortened mission times — preventing what would otherwise have been a 37-hour round trip from Missouri — by halving the distance American bombers need to travel.
The arrangement has not been without controversy. Around 200 protesters gathered at the base on Saturday, the day before the fire, carrying signs reading “No war on Iran,” “US out of British bases” and “Stop Trump’s deadly wars.”
RAF Fairford is one of only two bases in Europe capable of hosting all three of America’s long-range bomber aircraft — the B-1 Lancer, the B-2 Spirit and the B-52 Stratofortress. The base has a long and storied history, having been built in 1944 to support British and American forces during the D-Day landings, and later used as a staging post for air-to-air refuelling tankers during the aerial bombardment of Libya in 1986. Its 3,000-metre runway was also designated as the United Kingdom’s sole emergency landing site for NASA’s Space Shuttle programme.
The US Air Force was approached for comment. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
