NEWARK — More than a dozen cars caught fire on the roof of a parking garage at Newark Liberty International Airport Thursday morning.

Video footage taken by ABC 7 Eyewitness News from a helicopter showed at least the  engulfed vehicles atop the airport's Terminal C garage. The Port Authority later said 17 cars were affected.

The fire sent plumes of thick black smoke into the air. Gusty winds made the fire difficult to extinguish, fire officials told ABC 7.

The Port Authority said in a series of tweets Thursday morning that the Terminal C garage was closed, as were Level 1 arrivals at the terminal.

The Newark Fire Department responded to the fire and is investigating the cause.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ.

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