Another Glasgow fire raises questions about building safety in the city

This article appeared as part of the Daily Sensemaker newsletter – one story a day to make sense of the world. To receive it in your inbox, featuring content exclusive to the newsletter, sign up for free here.

Glasgow Central will be shut until next week after a huge fire destroyed a neighbouring building on Sunday. Although the station is thought to have avoided major damage, the blaze shows the vulnerability of historic architecture around the city and its surrounding areas. Over the past decade, there have been fires in tenement sites at Albert Cross, in a derelict property in Carlton Place, at Troon Station and at the Glasgow School of Art. All of them were listed buildings. Sunday’s fire began in a vape shop, but is likely to have spread due to the structure of the property in which it was housed. Many heritage buildings in Glasgow are built in large blocks, which allows flames to move quickly through shared roof voids and timber frames.