Glasgow Fire Service

Glasgow has had an organised fire brigade since around 1643, when the earliest recorded reference to the purchase of leather buckets for firefighting is found.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}{{Cite web |title=Extracts from the records: 1685. 14 December 1685. John Waddrop to make buckets. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/glasgow-burgh-records/vol3/pp370-384 |access-date=January 16, 2024 |website=British History Online}} [https://merchantshouse.org.uk/ Merchant House]’s bucket money receipts 1825-31 were given to the Police commissioner for fire extinguishing, but the Trades House's receipts did not go to the police for some reason.{{Cite book |title=Local Reports of the Commissioners ...: Presented to Both Houses of Parliament by Command of His Majesty, Parts 2-3. Commissioners appointed to inquire into the state of municipal corporations in Scotland |publisher=W. Clowes and sons |year=1835}}

The city appointed its first part-time paid superintendent in 1747.{{Cite book|title=Fire Engines|last=The Glasgow Museum of Transport|publisher=The Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries Department|year=1971|location=Glasgow|pages=32}} The fire brigade was known as the Glasgow Fire Brigade until the National Fire Service was formed in 1941.

Glasgow Fire Service was officially formed on 1 April 1948, by the Fire Services Act 1947.{{Cite book|title=Fire Services Act 1947}} It was one of the eleven fire brigades established in Scotland after World War II, when these brigades were returned to the control of local authorities.

In May 1975, Glasgow Fire Service was absorbed into Strathclyde Fire Brigade as part of Scottish local government regionalisation.Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975

In April 1984, the Glasgow Salvage Corps shut down after 111 years of service. They were merged into Strathclyde Fire Brigade.

class="wikitable" |+ Key events !Year !Event'Fire Engines' The Glasgow Museum of Transport (1971) P.32 !Year !Event

1652 |'Great Fire of Glasgow' |1870 |First steam engine purchased

1657 |First 'fire engine' |1891 |100% full-time staffing of Brigade

1747 |Part-time fire superintendent appointed |1905 |First motorised fire engine purchased

1816 |Full-time fire superintendent appointed |1913 |Last Brigade horses (Kelvin and Tweed) sold

Glasgow has a long history of major fires and other significant tragic incidents.

In 1190, a fire badly damaged Glasgow Cathedral{{Cite web|url=https://www.glasgowcathedral.org/history/|title=Glasgow Cathedral|access-date=26 November 2018|archive-date=12 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812180445/https://www.glasgowcathedral.org/history/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite book|title=Proud Record: The Story of the Glasgow Fire Service|last=Steven|first=Campbell|publisher=Glasgow Fire Service|year=1975|pages=9}} and on 17 July 1652, the 'Great Fire of Glasgow' destroyed one-third of the city.{{Cite web|url=https://drmarkjardine.wordpress.com/2015/02/27/the-great-fire-of-glasgow-in-1677/|title=Jardine's Book of Martyrs|date=27 February 2015 }}

In February 1849, 65 people, almost all under the age of 20, were crushed to death in a panic caused by a small fire in the Theatre Royal in Dunlop Street.{{Cite web|url=http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Glasgow/TRDunlop.htm|title=The Music Hall and Theatre History Site}} Forty years later, on 1 November 1889, 29 young women aged from 14 to 25 were killed when the Templeton's carpet factory{{Cite web|url=http://www.clydewaterfront.com/clyde-heritage/glasgow-green/templeton's-carpet-factory|title=History of Templeton's Carpet Factory}} in the east end of the city collapsed during high winds. A fire in a lodging house on Watson Street{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12694016/watson_street_fire_1905_glasgows/|title=Watson Street newspaper article|newspaper=The Wilmington Messenger |date=21 November 1905 |page=5 }}{{Cite web|url=https://watson-street-fire-1905.yolasite.com/|title=Watson Street fire|access-date=9 December 2018}} killed 39 men and injured another 24 on 19 November 1905. The iconic Kelvin Hall, built in 1901, was totally destroyed by fire on 7 July 1925.{{Cite web|url=https://kelvinhall.org.uk/glasgow-museums/kelvin-hall-history/|title=History of the Kelvin Hall|access-date=9 December 2018}}{{Cite book|title=Proud Record|pages=86}} A fire in a fashion store on 4 May 1949, at 43 Argyle Street owned by Grafton's led to the deaths of thirteen young women, six of them teenagers.{{Cite book|title=Tinderbox Heroes|last=Forbes A and Smith J|publisher=Strathclyde Fire & Rescue Service Retired Employees Association|year=2010|isbn=978-0-9564996-0-8|pages=13–19}}

Fires continued to plague the city throughout the late twentieth century, resulting in the deaths of many more civilians and firefighters.{{Cite book|title=Proud Record: The Story of Glasgow Fire Service|last=Steven|first=Campbell|publisher=Glasgow Fire Service|year=1975}}Glasgow Fire Service Annual Report 1974 (Page 45)

On 16 March 1953, Glasgow's firefighters faced one of their most challenging incidents. A serious fire occurred at Leon & Co in Ballater Street, on the south side of the city, killing five male employees. The firefighters involved in the rescue were awarded three George Medals, two British Empire Medals for Bravery and three Queen's Commendations for Bravery{{Cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39917/supplement/3994/data.pdf|title=Supplement to the London Gazette 21.07.1953|access-date=26 November 2018}} – the largest number of civilian bravery awards ever awarded for a single incident{{Cite book|title=Tinderbox Heroes|last=Forbes A & Smith J|publisher=Strathclyde Fire & Rescue Retired Employees' Association|year=2010|isbn=978-0-9564996-0-8|location=Glasgow|pages=21–23}} at the time. In his annual report following the tragedy, Firemaster Chadwick C.B.E. recorded the awards as "....unprecedented in the history of the British Fire Service."{{Cite book|title=Proud Record: The Story of the Glasgow Fire Service|last=Steven|first=Campbell|publisher=Glasgow Fire Service|year=1975|location=Glasgow|pages=105}}

File:The memorial to those killed in the Cheapside Street Fire, Glasgow Necropolis.jpg

After a number of major fires in commercial premises in the 1960s, the media began referring to Glasgow as the 'Tinderbox City'.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-44506780|title=BBC News|date=16 June 2018 |access-date=26 November 2018}}{{Cite book|title=Tinderbox Heroes|last=Forbes A & Smith J|year=2010|pages=3}}

On 28 March 1960, "the worst disaster in the peacetime history of the British Fire Service"{{Cite book|title=Tinderbox Heroes}} took place. At 7:15 that night, a 999 call reported a fire at 130 Cheapside Street{{Cite book|title=Proud Record|year=1975|pages=115–118}}{{Cite book|title=Tinderbox Heroes|pages=59–90}} and three minutes later the first fire engines and a tender from Glasgow Salvage Corps arrived. The details of this fire are well documented elsewhere, but it is notable for the loss of fourteen Glasgow firefighters and five salvagemen from the Glasgow Salvage Corps, and the heroism of their colleagues. Station Officer (later Deputy Firemaster) Peter J McGill and Fireman (later Divisional Officer) James M Dunlop were awarded George Medals for their bravery. Sub Officer Charles Neeson and Firemen John Nicholson and George B Alexander were awarded British Empire Medals, and Fireman William Watters was awarded a Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct.{{Cite book|title=Proud Record}} Although this event is remembered as the Cheapside Street disaster, sixteen of the nineteen fatalities lost their lives in Warroch Street.{{Cite book|title=Tinderbox Heroes|page=66}}

On 26 October 1962, another of Glasgow's cultural heritage buildings, the St Andrew's Halls, suffered significant damage from a major fire that left only one facade of the building intact.{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13074611.from-the-archive-the-halls-at-the-heart-of-glasgows-civic-life/|title=St Andrew's Hall fire|date=26 September 2012 |access-date=9 December 2018}}{{Cite book|title=Tinderbox Heroes|page=36}}

On 18 November 1968, twenty-two people died in a fire at A J & S Stern's furniture factory in James Watt Street.{{Cite book|title=Tinderbox Heroes|pages=44–46}} Crews arrived within four minutes of the 999 call made at 10:31 am but could not save the occupants, who were trapped behind barred windows and locked fire escapes.

On 2 January 1971, crews from across Glasgow attended the Ibrox disaster that caused 66 deaths and over 200 injuries.

1972 saw the final chapter in the tragic loss of Glasgow firefighters. On 25 August that year, seven Glasgow Fire Service personnel died in the line of duty while trying to rescue a trapped colleague at a warehouse fire at 70/72 Kilbirnie Street.{{Cite web|url=http://www.graemekirkwood.co.uk/SFB/Memorial/Kilbirnie_St.htm|title=Kilbirnie Street Fire|last=Kirkwood|first=Graeme|access-date=26 November 2018}}{{Cite book|title=Proud Record|pages=112–113}}{{Cite book|title=Tinderbox Heroes|pages=51–57}}{{Cite book|title=Warriors in Fire Boots|last=Lockyear|first=Arthur|publisher=Jeremy Mills Publishing Limited|year=2011|isbn=978-1-906600-54-9|pages=269–276}} Those killed ranged in service from just over one year to twenty-four years, with the youngest victim aged 20. The courage displayed at Kilbirnie Street led to eleven awards of the Glasgow Corporation Medals for Bravery and a Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct.

On 18 November 1972, the service was called to a fire in a disused shop in Maryhill Road. Here, Sub Officer Adrian McGill became the last Glasgow firefighter to lose his life protecting the citizens of the city. While attempting to rescue a woman who was trapped, Sub Officer McGill removed his breathing apparatus to give it to her. He succumbed to smoke inhalation and was awarded a posthumous Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct and the Glasgow Corporation Medal for Bravery. The service rescued fifteen people from the fire by ladders and led over 200 to safety through smoke.

Excluding National Fire Service casualties caused by enemy action,{{Cite book|title=Proud Record|pages=148–149}}Glasgow Fire Service Annual Report 1974 forty Glasgow firefighters lost their lives firefighting in 'Tinderbox City', from the loss of four men at W & R Hatrick's Chemical Works in Renfield Street in 1898{{Cite web|url=https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/the-firefighters-heritage-trail/renfield-street.aspx|title=Firefighters Heritage Trail|access-date=26 November 2018}}{{Cite book|title=Proud Record}} to Sub Officer McGill at Maryhill Road in 1972.

Glasgow Fire Service Annual Report 1974 Page 26{{Cite book|title=Proud Record|page=144}}

class="wikitable" |+ !Name !From !To ! !Name !From !To

Basil Aitchison |1809 |1816 | |William Patterson |1884 |1907

James Black |1816 |1824 | |John McColl |1907 |1909

James Davidson |1824 |1833 | |William Waddell |1909 |1928

Peter McGregor |1833 |1835 | |James Marshall |1928 |1936

William Roberts |1835 |1847 | |Charles Angus |1936 |1940

Charles Forsyth |1847 |1849 | |Martin Chadwick |1940 |1961

Alex Turner |1849 |1855 | |John Swanson |1961 |1965

James Bryson |1855 |1884 | |George Cooper |1965 |1975

Glasgow Fire Service Annual Report 1974 (p. 7)

class="wikitable" ! A Division !! B Division !! C Division
A.1 Central	B.1 South	C.1 North West
A.2 East	B.2 Govan	C.2 Knightswood
A.3 Parkhead	B.3 Pollok	C.3 Partick
A.4 Easterhouse	B.4 Castlemilk	C.4 West
A.5 Springburn	B.5 Queens Park	C.5 North
		C.M. Fire Boat
		C.6 Anderston

{{Reflist}}

Category:Glasgow