On Sunday the 8th of March, a vape shop on Union Street in Glasgow caused a fire to start near Glasgow Central Station, one of Scotland’s busiest train stations.
The fire spread quickly through the old building it was in and affected nearby areas. Smoke was seen pouring out of entrances, which caused eyewitnesses to call 999.
Firefighters were sent to the scene at around 15:45, and the number of fire crews working to put out the blaze rose from a few units to more than 200 firefighters at the height of the incident.
Luckily, no injuries from the fire have been reported so far.
The Aftermath
The fire caused major disruption around Glasgow Central Station. At first, the station had to close because the nearby building was badly damaged and partly collapsed, leaving only the front wall standing.
The station slowly reopened in stages; the lower parts resumed limited service shortly after the fire, and some of the high-level platforms reopened later.
As of 25 March, all platforms and train services have now resumed at Glasgow Central Station as normal after more than two weeks of travel disruption.
However, some areas around the station, including the entrances on Union Street and Gordon Street, remain restricted because of ongoing safety and cleanup work.
Although firefighters did an amazing job stopping the flames from spreading further, a historic part of Glasgow’s city centre was lost in the blaze. This event has raised concerns about fire safety, especially in old buildings and businesses like vape shops that can contain lots of batteries and electrical devices.
By Emilia-Rose Nawarauckasgraham