Fire-ravaged remains of Glasgow building to be demolished

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The remaining section of a historic Glasgow building wrecked by a fire is to be demolished.

Glasgow City Council said the decision was made due to public safety concerns with parts of the building on Union Corner, next to Glasgow Central Station, continuing to fall off since Sunday's blaze.

The news came as the first minister said details of financial support for businesses affected by the fire would be set out very soon.

The fire spread from a vape shop on Union Street through the B-listed Victorian building on Sunday night, leaving it in ruins. Firefighters remain at the scene to continue to cool any remaining hot spots. There were no casualties in the blaze.

Glasgow City Council took control of the building from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service earlier and were able to carry out an assessment of the damaged structure for the first time.

In a statement, the local authority said: "We are now in control of the Union Street site, and after a full and final assessment of the remaining structure, has decided that demolition must happen in the interests of public safety. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service are still on site to take care of remaining hot spots."

The council has not yet announced when the demolition will be carried out.

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Glasgow Central to stay closed until at least March 18 as demolition work starts

The main part of Glasgow Central station will remain closed until at least Wednesday, authorities have said, as work began to demolish an adjacent building ravaged by a fire.

Glasgow City Council said it is in the interests of public safety to demolish what remains of the “very unstable” Victorian building, which has continued to collapse since the blaze started on Sunday afternoon.

The fire began in a vape shop on Union Street and spread through the building and around the corner, with only the facade of the building at the junction with Gordon Street left standing.

On Friday, demolition vehicles arrived at the site and began the slow process of demolishing the building.

The blaze on Sunday forced neighbouring Glasgow Central, Scotland’s busiest railway station, to close.

Network Rail Scotland said that with demolition work under way its engineers cannot yet gain access to the station to assess the situation, and the main part of the station containing the high-level platforms will therefore remain shut until at least Wednesday March 18.

Services in the lower level of the station began running again on Wednesday.

Ross Moran, route director at Network Rail Scotland, said: “We understand how disruptive this extended closure is for passengers and the wider city centre, and we’re extremely grateful for the continued patience and understanding people have shown.

“The damage to the building beside the station is clearly significant and any phased reopening will depend on demolition work progressing to a stage that allows our engineers to safely return.

“We’ll continue working closely with Glasgow City Council to support the response however we can.”

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) formally handed over control of the site to Glasgow City Council on Thursday.

In a statement that day, the council said: “We are now in control of the Union Street site, and after a full and final assessment of the remaining structure our Building Standards team have decided that demolition must happen in the interests of public safety.”

Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken said on Friday that the structure currently poses a risk to the public and has been cordoned off to keep people safe.

She said: “The structure where the fire was is now very unstable. It has no structural integrity.

“There’s a kind of a floating chimney stack that’s attached to the top of the wall. So, this is an unstable, dangerous site.

“It is obviously going to cause disruption to people for quite a while, and in particular the shops and the businesses who are within this cordon, and we’re providing as much support for them as we’re able to do.”

She added: “It’s going to take us a wee while to recover, but what I want to assure all Glaswegians, and indeed everybody that uses Central station, is that we will work as fast as we possibly can to get back to normality and then to rebuild and regenerate Union Street and Gordon Street.

“But, in the meantime, it is safety first for everyone and it is the protection of the public that is our number one priority.”

On Friday, workers could be seen in a cage suspended from a crane dismantling the remains of a chimney stack on a neighbouring building.

Network Rail said all available options for safely reopening the station were being explored, including whether a partial or phased reopening of some platforms might be possible.

It said engineers have so far not identified any significant structural issues with the station and that damage, mainly due to water ingress, appears to have been contained to a small office on the Union Street side of the station and a small part of the glazed area directly above it.

At the height of the incident, 18 fire appliances and specialist resources were at the scene.

Assistant chief officer Jon Henderson, SFRS director of prevention, said: “This was an incredibly challenging and complex incident which called upon resources and expertise from across the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

“We are extremely proud of our staff and incredibly thankful to our partners for helping to bring this incident to a safe conclusion.

“Despite the scale and intensity of this fire, no firefighters or members of the public were hurt and some of Glasgow’s most iconic buildings were saved from further damage.”

Glasgow Central exit to reopen as demolition work nears end

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Demolition work at the site is due to finish on Friday

A section of Glasgow's Central Station is set to open on Sunday as demolition work nears completion on the adjoining fire-ravaged building.

An exit on to Hope Street will reopen, operating as a route out of the station only.

It comes days after low-level entrances and the Hope Street carriage driveway reopened, though the station's main entrances on Gordon Street and Union Street remain shut.

Demolition of the remaining facade of the corner building wrecked by the fire is due to be completed on Friday, Glasgow City Council has confirmed.

The huge blaze engulfed the B-listed Victorian building next to Glasgow Central Station on Sunday 8 March after starting in a vape shop on Union Street.

Only the facade of the building on Gordon Street was left standing, as well as a floating chimney stack which was gradually taken apart last week.

The high-level station partially reopened on Wednesday after a 10-day closure, with one of the main exits set to be accessible from Sunday.

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The fire started in a vape shop on Sunday 8 March

Network Rail route director Ross Moran said the station is operating differently and staff are on site to direct passengers. "Our retailers have also shown real patience throughout this disruption, and we're working closely with them to help manage their stores as access improves," he said. "Reopening the Hope Street exit is a positive step forward, but there's still vital work underway."

Council leader Susan Aitken said public safety remained the priority but "we are all acutely aware of how many people, in Glasgow and right across the country, depend on Central Station day-to-day and everyone involved is working towards that goal."

Teams have been operating around the clock to carry out the demolition of the remaining structure as quickly and safely as possible.

The council said crews will be on site from 07:00 to 19:00 from Saturday onwards to remove rubble. The cordon around the site will remain in place.

Demolition of the facade started on Wednesday morning.

During the blaze, flames reached the dome on the corner of the 19th Century building and the front wall collapsed to the ground.

Workers used hand tools to dismantle the remaining facade as use of powered equipment would likely cause an an uncontrolled collapse.

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Most of the main concourse will not be accessible and screened off using solid metal sheeting

The partial reopening of the station allowed the return of some Scotrail and cross-border train services.

Platforms seven to 15 on the west side of the station are back in use.

Network Rail said commuters can access the station via the low-level entrances on Argyle Street and the Hope Street carriage driveway, which is normally used during special events.

The upper exit on Hope Street is set to reopen from Sunday as an exit only for passengers arriving on platforms seven to 10. But the main entrance on Gordon Street and Union Street remains closed.

Most of the main concourse will not be accessible and screened off using solid metal sheeting. Facilities and shops in the station, including the main toilets, are closed.