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36-535: 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. 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. The city appointed its first part-time paid superintendent in 1747. The fire brigade

72-757: A Police Fire Brigade. Amalgamating roles continued for some time until the need for a separate police and fire service was brought to the attention of the Home Office whom, on the report of a Royal Commission, brought about the NFS as a result of The Fire Brigade Act 1938 . The NFS existed until 1948, when it was again split by the Fire Services Act 1947 , with fire services reverting to local authority control, although this time there were far fewer brigades, with only one per county and county borough . The NFS had full-time and part-time members, male and female. Its uniform

108-489: 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. Fires continued to plague the city throughout the late twentieth century, resulting in the deaths of many more civilians and firefighters. 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

144-606: A fire at A J & S Stern's furniture factory in James Watt Street . 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

180-656: A panic caused by a small fire in the Theatre Royal in Dunlop Street. Forty years later, on 1 November 1889, 29 young women aged from 14 to 25 were killed when the Templeton's carpet factory in the east end of the city collapsed during high winds. A fire in a lodging house on Watson Street 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. A fire in

216-619: 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

252-745: Is one record of one volunteer who died on duty aged just 19, and was awarded the Certificate for Gallantry as a result. He is buried in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal , Kent. The Chief of the Fire Staff and Inspector-in-Chief throughout the war (until 28 February 1947, when he retired) was Sir Aylmer Firebrace , former Chief Officer of the London Fire Brigade. At peak strength the NFS had 370,000 personnel, including 80,000 women. The women were mostly employed on administrative duties. The NFS

288-484: The Glasgow Salvage Corps shut down after 111 years of service. They were merged into Strathclyde Fire Brigade . Glasgow has a long history of major fires and other significant tragic incidents. In 1190, a fire badly damaged Glasgow Cathedral and on 17 July 1652, the 'Great Fire of Glasgow' destroyed one-third of the city. In February 1849, 65 people, almost all under the age of 20, were crushed to death in

324-528: The Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield , England, in 1989. The stadium's owner, Rangers F.C. , was later ruled to be at fault in a sheriff's judgement on one of the deaths. Rangers did not dispute this ruling, and was sued for damages in 60 other cases brought by relatives of the dead. The first disaster at Ibrox occurred during a 1902 home international match between Scotland and England . The back of

360-635: The Second Ibrox Disaster , was a crush among the crowd at an Old Firm football game ( Rangers v Celtic ), which led to 66 deaths and more than 200 injuries. It happened on 2 January 1971 in an exit stairway at Ibrox Park (now Ibrox Stadium) in Glasgow , Scotland. It was the worst football disaster until the Bradford City stadium fire in Bradford , England, in 1985. This was followed by 97 deaths in

396-414: The 1961 accident, Rangers had by then spent a total of £150,000 (equivalent to £3,100,000 in 2023) on improvements to Ibrox, a very significant sum of money for the time. The disaster occurred on Saturday, 2 January 1971, when 66 people were killed in a crush as supporters tried to leave the stadium. The match was an Old Firm game (Rangers v Celtic ) and was attended by more than 80,000 fans. In

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432-530: The 1971 disaster, there was only a small plaque at the corner of the ground where it happened. However, in 1995, Rangers announced plans to commemorate the 66 fans killed in the 1971 disaster. On 2 January 2001, the 30th anniversary of the tragedy, a larger monument was unveiled at the corner of the Bill Struth Main Stand and the Copland Road Stand. The monument contains blue plaques displaying

468-500: The 90th minute, Celtic took a 1–0 lead through Jimmy Johnstone , but in the final moments of the match, Colin Stein scored an equaliser for Rangers. As thousands of spectators were leaving the ground by stairway 13, it appears that someone may have fallen, causing a massive chain-reaction pile-up of people. Initially there was speculation that some fans left the ground slightly early when Celtic scored, but then turned back when they heard

504-639: 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, 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 to Sub Officer McGill at Maryhill Road in 1972. National Fire Service The National Fire Service ( NFS )

540-715: The UK government to look into safety at sports grounds. In February 1971, Scottish judge Lord Wheatley was asked to conduct an inquiry. His findings, published in May 1972, formed the basis for the Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds (Green Guide) , first published in 1973. The 1971 disaster led to a huge redevelopment of the Ibrox ground, spearheaded by the then-manager Willie Waddell , who visited Borussia Dortmund 's Westfalenstadion for inspiration. After three years' reconstruction work, three-quarters of

576-517: The area. More than 200 other fans were injured. Kenny Dalglish , then a Celtic player, was in the stands when the tragedy occurred. Dalglish was also present at the Heysel and Hillsborough disasters, in 1985 and 1989 respectively, with Liverpool F.C. Sixty-six people died on the day at the stadium as a result of injuries incurred during the disaster. Of those who died, all were aged under 50, 61 were under 40, 49 were under 30, 33 were under 20 and 1

612-536: The case of Charles Dougan and a further 60 cases brought by relatives of the dead, Rangers F.C. did not dispute the findings of Sheriff Irvine Smith and instead merely disputed the calculation of the damages as can be seen from the appeal judgement of the Sheriff Principal. In his book, Irvine Smith states that almost 40 years after his decision, he was viewed with disapproval by some Rangers-supporting friends, who accused him of "disloyalty". For some years after

648-450: The crowd and had no choice in which lane they were going to use, or at what pace. On 16 September 1961, two people were killed in a crush on the stairway. In 1967, eight spectators were injured when leaving the stadium. In 1969, 26 were injured in an accident on Stairway 13 during egress. No measures were taken to consult a professional firm to discuss the potential dangers from crowds on Stairway 13 following these events. Subsequent to

684-425: The crowd cheering when Stein scored the equaliser, colliding with fans leaving the ground when the match ended. The official inquiry into the disaster indicated that there was no truth in this hypothesis, however, as all the spectators were heading in the same direction at the time of the collapse. Most of the deaths were caused by compressive asphyxia , with bodies being stacked up to six feet (1.8 m) deep in

720-491: The defenders, Rangers F.C.". Smith found Rangers F.C. guilty on four counts in the case of the death of Charles Dougan, a 31-year-old boilermaker from Clydebank who died, as did 56 others, from traumatic asphyxia. After hearing of the series of accidents on Stairway 13 including September 1961 when there were 70 people injured and two deaths, September 1967 when 11 people were taken to hospital, and January 1969 when 29 people were injured, Sheriff Irvine Smith stated, So far as

756-584: The evidence is concerned, the Board never so much as considered that it ought to apply its mind to the question of safety on that particular stairway [...] and would appear – I put it no higher – to have proceeded on the view that if the problem was ignored long enough it would eventually go away [...] Indeed it goes further than this because certain of their actions can only be interpreted as a deliberate and apparently successful attempt to deceive others that they were doing something, when in fact they were doing nothing. In

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792-445: The fire stations or adjacent to them. This was entirely voluntary, but since many of the wartime personnel had worked in factories before the war it was work with which they were familiar and skilled. War service meant considerable risk, and members of the NFS were called to attend the aftermath of German bombing raids and coastal shelling from France, or often whilst these attacks were still ongoing. Casualties were inevitable, and there

828-570: The ground being replaced by modern all-seater stands, Ibrox was converted to a 44,000-capacity stadium by 1981. Further work in the 1990s increased the stadium capacity to 50,000, and Ibrox was subsequently awarded UEFA five-star status. The Scottish folk singer-songwriter Matt McGinn (1928–1977) wrote a song called "The Ibrox Disaster" as a tribute to the people who died in the tragic event. A fatal accident inquiry had been held in Glasgow which opened on 15 February 1971. It lasted 7 days, although

864-467: The history of the British Fire Service." After a number of major fires in commercial premises in the 1960s, the media began referring to Glasgow as the 'Tinderbox City'. On 28 March 1960, "the worst disaster in the peacetime history of the British Fire Service" took place. At 7:15 that night, a 999 call reported a fire at 130 Cheapside Street and three minutes later the first fire engines and

900-425: The jury of four men and three women had been instructed not to make recommendations around safety precautions at football grounds, because an inquiry led by Lord Wheatley would be examining this. Sheriff James Irvine Smith, in his statement after a civil damages trial raised at Glasgow Sheriff Court in May 1974 by the widow of one of the Ibrox victims, ruled: "The said accident was due to the fault and negligence of

936-478: The line of duty while trying to rescue a trapped colleague at a warehouse fire at 70/72 Kilbirnie Street . 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

972-532: The names of each person killed in all three incidents. A statue of John Greig , the Rangers captain at the time of the 1971 disaster, stands atop the monument. In 2011, the 40th anniversary of the disaster was commemorated before the Old Firm game on 2 January 2011 when a one-minute silence was observed before the game. Both teams wore black armbands as a sign of respect and were led out by John Greig and Billy McNeill –

1008-434: 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 – the largest number of civilian bravery awards ever awarded for a single incident at the time. In his annual report following the tragedy, Firemaster Chadwick C.B.E. recorded the awards as "....unprecedented in

1044-445: The wooden West Tribune Stand collapsed due to heavy rainfall the previous night, causing 25 deaths and more than 500 injuries. During 1963, concerns were raised about the safety of the stairway adjacent to passageway 13, colloquially known as Stairway 13, the exit closest to Copland Road subway station . It was documented that the stairs provided very little freedom of movement due to crowd pressure; many were lifted off their feet by

1080-631: Was aged under 10. The loss included many children, five of whom, Peter Easton, Martin Paton, Mason Phillips, Brian Todd and Douglas Morrison, were schoolmates from the same town of Markinch in Fife . The loss also included 31 teenagers, including the only female victim Margaret Ferguson of Maddiston in Falkirk , age 18. The youngest child to die was Nigel Patrick Pickup of Liverpool , age 9. Over 200 people were reported to have suffered injuries. The disaster spurred

1116-602: Was awarded a Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct . Although this event is remembered as the Cheapside Street disaster, sixteen of the nineteen fatalities lost their lives in Warroch Street. 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. On 18 November 1968, twenty-two people died in

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1152-461: 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

1188-595: Was divided into about forty Fire Forces. These were subdivided into Divisions. Each Division had two Columns and each Column had five Companies. Members of the NFS who were well known in civilian life (or later became so) included: An eleven-minute Second World War documentary that chronicles the birth and work of the NFS survived the war and is available to view on the British Pathe website. Service personnel received Certificate of Service documents. 1971 Ibrox disaster The 1971 Ibrox disaster , also known as

1224-671: 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 . 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. In April 1984,

1260-631: Was the single fire service created in Great Britain in 1941 during the Second World War ; a separate National Fire Service (Northern Ireland) was created in 1942. The NFS was created in August 1941 by the amalgamation of the wartime national Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) and the local authority fire brigades (about 1,600 of them). Prior to this, many police forces were charged with attending fires, with Liverpool City Police being an early example of

1296-562: Was the traditional dark blue double-breasted tunic, and it adopted the peaked cap worn by the AFS instead of the peakless sailor-style cap which had been worn by many pre-war fire brigades (including the London Fire Brigade ). The peaked cap was retained by fire services after the war. When they were on duty, but in the frequent long stretches between calls, many firemen and firewomen performed vital wartime manufacturing work, in workshops in

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