FLOUR MILLS - 1872

Image: Illustrated London News
 

On July 9, 1872, an explosion at Tradeston Flour Mills, Glasgow, killed 18 people and injured 16 others. The likely cause of the explosion was an accumulation of dust, according to a study published in the Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, Volume 25, Jan. 31 1906.   

CHEAPSIDE - 1960

 

On March 28, 1960, a fire on Glasgow's Cheapside Street killed 19 firemen in the greatest loss of life in the U.K. fire service since World War II.

Fourteen members of the Glasgow Fire Brigade and five members of the Glasgow Salvage Corps perished when walls collapsed at a bonded warehouse for whiskey and rum.



Photos: STV
 
They were:

Fireman John Allen – Glasgow Fire Service

Fireman Christopher Boyle – Glasgow Fire Service

Sub Officer James Calder – Glasgow Fire Service

Fireman Gordon Chapman – Strathclyde Fire Brigade

Fireman William Crockett – Glasgow Fire Service

Fireman Archibald Darroch – Glasgow Fire Service

Fireman Daniel Davidson – Glasgow Fire Service

Fireman Alfred Dickinson – Glasgow Fire Service

Fireman Alexander Grassie – Glasgow Fire Service

Salvageman Gordon McMillan – Glasgow Salvage Corps

Fireman Ian McMillan – Glasgow Fire Service

Fireman George McIntyre – Glasgow Fire Service

Sub Officer John McPherson – Glasgow Fire Service

Leading Salvageman James McLellan – Glasgow Salvage Corps

Fireman Edward McMillan – Glasgow Fire Service

Salvageman James Mungall – Glasgow Salvage Corps

Superintendent Edward Murray – Glasgow Salvage Corps

Salvageman William Oliver – Glasgow Salvage Corps

Fireman William Watson – Glasgow Fire Service

According to Wikipedia:

Fire broke out in a bonded warehouse owned by Arbuckle, Smith and Company.

The Glasgow Fire Service was initially alerted by a 999 call at 7.15pm from the foreman of the Eldorado Ice Cream Company which was near the whisky bond.

He reported smoke coming from a second floor window of the warehouse.

In response two pumps from West Station with Sub Officer James Calder in charge was sent, along with a Turntable Ladder from Central Station.

Also responding initially was the Fire Boat 'St Mungo' and a Salvage Tender and crew of the Glasgow Salvage Corps.

The first fire crews arrived at 7.21pm and after a quick reconnaissance three more pumps were requested to attend.

Crews were informed by civilians that smoke and flame had been seen on the Warroch Street side of the building and additional crews and equipment were sent to investigate.

Assistant Firemaster Swanson had now arrived on the scene and having been fully appraised of the situation increased the number of pumps (fire engines) to eight.

This message was sent at 7.49pm and seconds after it was transmitted a major explosion blew out the walls of the premises virtually destroying it.

The warehouse contained over a million gallons of whisky and rum under one roof.

This burned out of control for several hours, as off-duty firefighters from Glasgow and fire brigades from the surrounding areas were called in to assist.

In total of 30 pumping appliances, 5 Turntable Ladders and 4 support vehicles were sent to the scene from around the area.

Witnesses reported seeing bright blue flames leaping 40 feet into the sky, with the glow visible across the entire city.

Neighbouring buildings, including a tobacco warehouse, an ice cream factory and the Harland and Wolff engine works, were engulfed.

At the height of the blaze, 450 firefighters from the Greater Clyde valley were involved in fighting the fire, which took a week to extinguish.

Catriona Fox lost her father in the blaze.

She recalled the tragedy in a Scottish newspaper:

My Dad, Eddie, was a fireman with the Glasgow Salvage Corps.

I was actually born and brought up at the fire station on Albion Street and lived there with my brother, who was 15.

Hearing the alarm bell go was a common occurrence and I had grown used to watching my dad and the other firemen head off to a blaze.

On March 28, 1960, we'd just finished our tea when the bell went off.

I watched Dad put a tender hand on Mum's shoulder and tell her reassuringly that he wouldn't be long.

That was the last time I ever saw him.....

By 8pm we hadn't heard any news, so we phoned the duty room, but they couldn't tell us anything.

We switched on the TV and were shocked when a newsflash said there had been a massive explosion within minutes of the firefighters arriving at the scene, blowing the building apart.

A number of firemen were believed to be buried in the masonry.

As soon as we heard the news, all the families congregated in the courtyard, supporting one another and waiting anxiously for more information.

At 10pm the firemen returned with grim faces, bearing the terrible news that five of the men from the station, along with 14 other firemen, had been killed.

My dad was one of them.

I was a Daddy's girl, and it was unbearable.

It was also painful to see the effect it had on my mum.

After that night she almost seemed to lose the will to live.

She was tormented by nightmares until the day she died 26 years later.

After the tragedy, we moved away from the fire house and things were never the same.

Not a day goes by when I don't think about my dad and that awful night.

Every time I hear a fire siren the painful memories come flooding back.

Firefighters do the most horrendous of jobs.

My Dad went out to work one night and never came back, so I know only too well the dangers they face.

My dad used to tell my mum that she would be better off financially when he was dead.

Sadly, he was right.

I wouldn't discourage anyone from being in the fire service as we need our firefighters.

In fact, my older brother was a retained fireman and continued after our dad's death.

Firefighters are all heroes and I think that should be reflected in their wages.

Marking the 50th anniversary, Brian Sweeney, chief officer of Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, which today protects Glasgow, said:

"Historically, Glasgow needed an outstanding fire service because it was a very dangerous place in which to fight fires. Post-war Glasgow contained heavy industry, crowded tenements and one of the world's great industrial and trading rivers, lined with warehouses and ships loaded with flammable cargoes. All these factors earned Glasgow the title 'tinderbox city'. The city's firefighters knew the challenges, knew the risks." [BBC]


Fireman James Dunlop won the George Medal:

“We were all in position when the explosion occurred. It was like all hell was let loose. I had put a man on the turntable ladder but rather than evacuate my position I got the chap down. I got a pat on the head from the Queen for that. The whisky barrels were falling out of the building and bursting into flames. It was like bombs going off.” [Herald Scotland]

Dunlop also said:

"It was a very sudden and unexpected explosion that took us by surprise. It took us a few moments to realise that it had occurred. To me it wasn't scary after that. There was a determination to beat this fire. We put things aside and got on with the job."[BBC]

Driver Bob Scouller of the Glasgow Salvage Corps:

 "The buildings seemed to make me sort of shiver a wee bit. I said to myself ‘I’m going back.’ I turned and I started to walk back up, and as I came near the turntable ladder there were four firemen. They were trying to get into a grill in a window and were hammering away with their little axes. They said: ‘Driver, could you get us an axe?’ ... The four of them were buried right in front of my eyes. There was nothing I could do. They were all gone.” [Herald Scotland]

'TINDERBOX CITY'

Newspaper account of Argyle Street fire in May 1949

List of Major Fires and Other Incidents in GLASGOW

Jan. 15, 1832 - Fireman James Bruce fell to his death from a ladder at a fire in the former Queen's Court building, east side of Queen Street. [STV]

Dec. 5, 1856 - Fireman John Harrison died after the collapse of a burning building between Buchanan Street and Queen Street, south of the Royal Exchange. [STV]

Sept. 22, 1864 - The Central Fire Engine Station sent men and equipment to a fire aboard the vessel James in Glasgow Harbor. [Glasgow Herald]   Link

July 9, 1872 - Explosion at Tradeston Flour Mills, Glasgow, killed 18 people and injured 16 others. [Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, Vol. 25, Jan. 31, 1906]

Jan. 7, 1898 - On Renfield Street, four firemen - John Battersby, James Hastie, Charles Orr and David Smith - died in an explosion and collapse at W&R Hatrick & Co druggists. [STV]

June 15, 1903 - Fire and explosion at whiskey distillery and adjacent flour mills killed seven people. [Evening Record of Windsor, Ontario]   Link 

Nov. 19, 1905 - Fire at a "cheap lodging house for men" claimed 39 lives. The structure, located on Watson Street, housed more than 300 men when the fire broke out. [New York Times]

Dec. 6, 1920 - Subway collision injures 10 people. [Glasgow Herald]   Link  

On Dec. 19, 1920, the fire brigade contended with a canal full of blazing whiskey from a distillery fire. [Milwaukee Sentinel]   Link

July 2, 1921 - At fire at Miller and Argyle streets, Frederick True and James Farquharson, of the fire brigade's Western Division, died when the building collapsed. [STV]

Dec. 25, 1925 - Fire at flour mill in "Partick" district of Glasgow. [Glasgow Herald]   Link

Dec. 24, 1927 - Christmas Eve warehouse fire tragedy at Graham Square resulted in the loss of four firemen. They were James Conn, Harry W. M’Kellar, David Jeffrey, and Morrison Dunbar of the central fire station. [STV]   Link

April 9, 1929 - Fire struck the vessel Pacific Trader at Princes Dock, Berth No. 4, Glasgow. [Glasgow Herald]   Link

Dec. 31, 1929 - Panic at Glen Cinema in Painsley killed 71 children. [Daily Record]

May 7, 1941 - Nazi air raid.

May 4, 1949 - Thirteen female garment shop assistants died in a fire at Grafton’s fashion store, Argyle Street. Two managers received the George Medal for leading five others from a fourth floor window onto a ledge. [STV]

May 18, 1957 - Fire and explosions at Riverside Milling Co. [Associated Press]   Link

Dec. 13, 1959 - A blaze broke out aboard the cargo ship Deerpool at Stobcross Quay, and the fire brigade rescued the ship's fifth engineer, Ronald Scarfe, 21, who was overcome by smoke. [Glasgow Herald]   Link

Dec. 1, 1960 - Station Officer Douglas Mearns died after a fire on the German cargo ship MV Pagensand at Princes Dock. [STV]

Nov. 16, 1967 - House fire in Cumbernauld claimed the lives of four children under six as well as station commander William Clark, who suffered a heart attack. [STV]

 

Nov. 18, 1968 - Fire at A J & S Stern’s furniture factory on James Watt street claimed the lives of 22 employees trapped by flames, barred windows and locked fire escapes. [Glasgow Herald, STV]   Link

Nov. 3, 1969 - A blaze at the Theatre Royal, then used by Scotish TV, claimed the life of Glasgow Fireman Archie McLay, who "fell through a trapdoor in the building and was unable to activate his BA distress warning system," according to STV. "Another firefighter who attended the blaze, John Jamieson, went on to invent an automatic Distress Signal Unit (DSU) for firefighters which would go off if they stopped moving for 30 seconds."
 

March 28, 1970 - Fire in a top floor flat in Deanston Drive, Shawlands, claimed the life of station officer James Mathieson, who collapsed and died. [STV]

Oct. 21, 1971 - Explosion at Clarkston Toll shopping center near Glasgow killed 22 people and injured more than 100 others. [STV]

Aug. 25, 1972 - Seven firemen perished at Sher Brothers warehouse on Kilbirnie Street. Divisional officer Andrew Quinn, leading fireman Alastair Crofts, Iain Bermingham, Allan Finlay, William Hooper and Duncan McMillan died trying to rescue fireman James Rook. [STV]   Link

Nov. 18, 1972 - Fire at a tenement on Maryhill Road spread to Great Western Road, killing sub officer Adrian McGill and a resident in a top floor flat.  [STV]  Link

1973 - Fire destroyed the Close Theater.

April 16, 1979 - Five people died when two commuter trains collided near the Paisley Gilmour Street station. More than 60 others suffered injuries.

March 7, 1989 - Two commuters trains collided near Glasgow's Bellgrove station, killing two people and injuring 44 others. The fire brigade cut through the wreckage to reach victims. [Glasgow Herald]   Link