A fund set up to help businesses affected by a massive fire next to Glasgow‘s Central Station has hit £150,000.
The ferocious blaze broke out in a vape shop on Union Street on Sunday afternoon before spreading through the building and around the corner on to Gordon Street.
The ‘Blitz-like fire’ continued throughout the night and by the morning most of the stores were gutted and only the façade of the building remained.
In response to the fire, dozens of GoFundMe appeals have been set up to help impacted businesses.
Including more than £21,000 for Lucky in Love Tattoos and another tattoo parlour destroyed in the fire, Hundred Demons, has so far received donations of more than £18,000 whose owner – Duncan Sweeny – wrote that the business had ‘lost everything’.
On the Hundred Demons’ GoFundMe page, he said: ‘As many of you know, our building at 111 Union St was destroyed by a fire (on Sunday) night.
‘It’s been a catastrophic loss for the many businesses housed there, and my heart goes out to everyone affected. Unfortunately, we’ve also lost everything. To be completely transparent – and this is a tough one to admit – my insurance doesn’t cover contents. I know. How stupid.
‘While the sentimental items I’ve collected over the years can never be replaced (prob the toughest bit), we are now facing the reality of trying to replace the essential equipment that Kate and I need to get back to work.
The ferocious blaze broke out in a vape shop on Union Street on Sunday afternoon before spreading through the building and around the corner on to Gordon Street
An aerial shot of the fire on monday with firefighters still tackling the blaze. The 70,000 commuters who pass through Glasgow Central Train Station have faced travel chaos following the devastating inferno with parts of the station remaining closed for the rest of the week
‘I want to raise funds to do that, with any extra going towards building a new space in the near future.’
Meanwhile Willow Hair Salon has raised over £9,000 from a target of £5,000.
The hairdresser’s owner posted on social media on Monday: ‘Goodbye to our beautiful old building.
‘I’m left totally heartbroken this morning from the loss of our salon. The secrets these walls heard, all the gossip, the good news and the bad.’
She added: ‘Recently I had been talking about moving salons but never in a million years did I think Willow would be shut down this way.
‘Thank-you to every one of you who helped build my business and who have reached out to check on us and offer your help.’
The list of destroyed premises includes the Wig Chapel studio, which has attracted more than £15,000 in donations.
Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said: ‘The fire has been devastating for Glasgow, particularly for the businesses directly affected.
‘Glasgow’s Victorian architecture is world-renowned, and to see a building that has dominated the city’s skyline for more than 170 years disappear is truly heartbreaking.
The ‘Blitz-like fire’ continued throughout the night and by the morning most of the stores were gutted and only the façade of the building remained
‘However, Glasgow is a resilient city. Its business community will rebuild, and people will continue to work together to support one another in the weeks and months ahead.’
The 70,000 commuters who pass through Glasgow Central Train Station have faced travel chaos following the devastating inferno with parts of the station remaining closed for the rest of the week.
While the station itself is thought to have escaped major damage, the impact of the firefighting efforts and the intense heat of the blaze is likely to require assessment.
And experts are worried about the safety of the remnants of the building – described as looking ‘like something out of the Blitz’ – which will likely need to be demolished.
Network Rail has said it will not be possible to reopen the high level part of the station because of the instability of the Union Corner site, much of which which collapsed during the blaze.
However the low level part of Glasgow Central will open tomorrow.
The rail infrastructure organisation said it recognised the inconvenience for passengers but it had to wait until building assessment work was completed.
Network Rail route director Ross Moran speaking on Tuesday: ‘We are grateful to Scottish Fire and Rescue teams who have been working tirelessly to contain the fire on the Union Corner site. I am pleased to advise passengers that we will be able to open Glasgow Central low level station from tomorrow morning.
‘Unfortunately, further work is required to ensure the high level station is safe for trains to operate. Our priority is to make sure that we can reopen Glasgow Central as soon as it is safe to do so and we will continue to work with emergency services, the local council and our train operators to restore services.
‘We want to reassure passengers that we are doing everything we can to open the high level station, but we must enable the emergency services and Glasgow City Council to complete their critical work to secure the Union Corner site and make it safe.’