Glasgow Central is on Fire!

[weareallqueens]

The fire started in a vape shop, apparently but seems utterly out of control now. No trains in or out of the station. Has hit the Grand Central Hotel too.

I just walked past it, its shocking looking at the building, its hollow now with just a shaky facade still standing. All cordoned off, police and firefighters have it under control. Place smells of smoke.
Hopefully no one injured.

I suspect the regulations around phone shops, and the way they are managed, mean they are much less of a threat than vapes shops. And one could argue phone shops provide a useful service relating to utilities, whereas vape shops encourage harmful behaviours and are notorious for being a front for something far more sinister.

Should they also close down mobile phone shops, shops that sell laptops? Some of you people are insane - it's like a gas explosion happening and saying - maybe now they'll ban gas ovens 🙄

How it was stopped destroying central station is all down to the brave firefighters. Bloody heroes.

It’s not like that at all, but you already know that.

How is it not? A fire started from some material...you are now suggesting, along with many others here, to stop vape shops??

Don't be so silly. You are arguing a point without the relative facts needed.

Have you ever bought a new phone from a phone shop? There are so many regulations regarding packaging and storage. Also the number of devices that can be held in a phone shop.

These regulations don't apply to vape shops. They often use illegal/fake items that are dangerous without limitations on how many are being stored or the conditions of storage.

I know this because it's my job to know this.

Where have I said ban all vape shops? I said they need to be more heavily regulated and where they are allowed to be situated should be managed better.
A thorough investigation into the practices and legitimacy of some of these places is definitely needed.

I have been away overseas and just saw this news when I got back this morning. Fecking vapes. A beautiful building destroyed.

Arguing over vapes and vape shops is futile.

My heart goes out to all those affected by this fire, and another chunk of Glasgow's architecture and history has just gone up in smoke. It is devastating.

Have you ever bought a vape? Because I have, plenty over the years, and they ALL come with safety warnings, how not to overcharge, not to charge at night, etc. It might be 'your job to know this' (know what I'm not sure), but you've clearly never bought a vape.

Further, if regulations are what are needed, then why are people not suggesting that? Instead, it's...close them all down!

There are many reasons why vape shops need to be investigated a lot more closely and the legality of what some of them do - perhaps this ca give some motivation/ justification

You are taking valid points of discussion as a personal attack.

There's no point in me trying to discuss this further with you when you are unable to see the bigger picture so I'll leave it here as you are derailing this post unnecessarily.

FYI, I have bought many vapes, and tested them and their components. Just because they have safety stickers, doesn't mean they are legitimate products that meet the required safety standards.

You can also buy 'designer' gear from the barras with the 'real' tags on, doesn't make them legitimate either and it would be foolish to think otherwise. Good day to you.

The head of the Scottish Police Federation was on the BBC Radio Scotland this morning talking about the challenge of dealing with violent clashes between Rangers and Celtic fans after the old firm derby, at the same time as keeping the crowds under control around the fire in the city centre.

There are plenty of shops that I don’t use that I have no problem with but I most definitely have a problem with vape shops and with good cause. They are taking over the high streets in far too many towns and cities in the UK and pushing out businesses that would legitimately benefit the local community, Many of them are associated with money laundering and other criminal activities. They often sell cheap knockoff products and even those that don’t, do encourage habits that are detrimental to people, like betting shops.

A high street that’s full of them looks even grubbier and more run down than one with empty shops.

Their numbers and locations need to be severely restricted imo.

They really are. I was convinced that the station would go too as it was such an incredibly intense fire. It’s devastating to lose such amazing buildings and so many businesses but the dedication and hard work of the firefighters means that it has been saved. I don’t think that the city could have recovered from losing Central and they deserve a medal and so much more for that.

It's true that the building that was on fire was adjacent to Glasgow Central station, but it was not right next to the train line like it was in Ayr. The train lines start further back in the station from where the fire happened, and the platforms extend a long way in the opposite direction from the fire, in some cases extending over the river Clyde. I remember when they were renovating the station in the run up to the Commonwealth Games in 2014 my train into the station routinely used to terminate on the bridge over the river and I'd have to walk almost ten minutes to get to the entrance where the fire was. The station is also a lot more strategically important in the rail network compared to Ayr station, so I think that as long as the glass roof isn't at risk of falling in they'll have at least some trains running in and out of the station within a few days.

Ah yes you are correct. The media is reporting it was the Forsyth building which is the building across the street but that informaiton is incorrect.

In that case, I can see Central Station being closed for some time. At least until they demolish the rest of that building.

James McAvoy’s post-premiere party for California Scheming last night had to be moved from there very last minute. The panic stations that must have caused! 🤯

I watched Si King’s programme about Glasgow Central, such a beautiful building. I hope it’s still there for me to visit and isn’t damaged beyond repair by the adjacent fire. So sad to lose such beautiful buildings.

I know mumsnet loves a diagram so I've drawn onto an aerial image of central station where the train lines start (blue lines) in relation to where the fire was (red box). The yellow line is the side entrance into the station next to the shop that initially went up into flames, but there are at least three other entrances to the station. The orange circle to the south of the station is where the platforms extend to (although it's a 15 platform station so you obviously couldn't run a full service from out there). I think once if they can be sure that the glass roof isn't at risk of falling in there will be some sort of service running out of the station quite quickly.

And just for contrast here is a diagram of the location of the station hotel in Ayr, where you can see that the fire was much closer to the rail lines, and the building was actually risk of collapsing onto the line.

How quickly they get running will depend on any heat or water damage to the control room as that is housed adjacent to the now-gone building. They do have a back up option on the other side of the river to get some services going.

The other issue is how long Union street will be closed for and how that impacts the safety guidance - both for the exit being unusable as an emergency exit and Union street being out of action for emergency vehicles if they’re needed at the station.

I thought the control room was on the otherwise above where M&S is, but agree it will take longer if it is on the Union St side. Do you think they need access to be maintained from Union St to operate though? It's probably the least accessible entrance and I'd have though with the entrances on Gordon St and Waterloo street, plus access down the escalators onto Argyle Street that would have been enough - it's a similar amount of access to what they have at Queen Street. And there's still vehicle access for emergency vehicles off Hope Street to actually drive up into the station.

I think they’ll be able to get it open quite quickly, but likely not every entrance for quite some time. It is the busiest station in Scotland so they need to try and get it operational ASAP, obviously once it’s safe. That could still be quite a while i suppose, it’s already closed today and tomorrow