A huge fire broke out in the historic Forsyth House beside Glasgow Central Station on Sunday 8 March 2026. The fire, which began at 3:46 pm in a vape shop on Union Street, spread rapidly and set off explosions inside the structure. Almost 200 firefighters fought the blaze, as the station closed and nearby roads were shut. The fire devastated multiple businesses and caused major disruption throughout the city centre.
Eighteen fire engines attended the building due to its height. People in the Grand Central Hotel were evacuated and accommodated at the Radisson Blu.
Historic building at the heart of the city
Forsyth House, a Grade B-listed building, was commissioned by a stationery company and built in 1851. The fire brought down the building’s dome and destroyed shops and businesses, including a popular fish and chip shop known as The Blue Lagoon, a salon and a café.
Around 7 pm, when I was going to the mosque, I witnessed huge flames rising from the building. Many areas were taped off, and people were not allowed anywhere near it.
A homeless man saved seconds before blast
Footage taken by witnesses showed some passersby trying to extinguish the flames behind the counter, before retreating as the fire took hold.
A homeless man came within inches of death. Body camera footage shows James Welch charging toward the burning shop, armed with only a fire extinguisher as smoke billows into the air. The Barmulloch man kneels just feet from the flames and sprays foam into the shop to try to contain the blaze. Two bystanders run over and drag him from the entrance. Seconds later, a van outside the building explodes with a violent boom, sending flame and debris into the street where he had just been standing.
A hero beyond hate
Lamin Kongira, who moved to Glasgow from Ghana in 2009 and has lived here ever since, rushed into the burning shop attempting to extinguish the flames. When he saw the fire was too intense, he fled outside and started rushing people off the street to protect them. In doing so, he saved a man from the ensuing explosion.
Lamin has been branded a hero – though he also received ugly backlash from some far-right voices who falsely tried to pin the blame on him for what happened. But his intentions and bravery reveal real heroism. It’s people like Lamin that make Glasgow, no matter the colour of your skin, or religion, or how you identify.
City centre disrupted; businesses devastated
Train services to Glasgow Central station, which serve approximately 25 million passengers a year, were immediately halted. Multiple city blocks surrounding the station were also closed, severely disrupting bus services and jamming nearby streets.
Businesses throughout the building were destroyed by the fire. Business owners at the address, and many of those impacted, have launched GoFundMe pages asking locals to reach deep into their pockets during this difficult time.
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Ongoing emergency response
Our deepest appreciation goes to the emergency services, who worked relentlessly through the night to tackle the fire.
More than 60 firefighters and specialist crews from Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, ISAR (UK International Search and Rescue), British Transport Police and Police Scotland remained at the scene.
Rapid Relief Team Glasgow was called out by Police Scotland in the early hours, supporting crews working through the night to tackle the blaze. A second group of five volunteers was sent as the team committed to providing support until the situation was fully resolved.
Calls for stricter regulation
The blaze ignited immediate calls to make it harder for people to buy vapes at shops. The detonations were reportedly caused by lithium batteries used in some vape devices, which were on site.
Three months previously, planning permission for the retail unit had been refused by Glasgow City Council. It has been revealed that plans for a hot food takeaway at the site were rejected by council officers on health grounds, voicing concerns about odour exhaust and air quality.
Political reaction
Paul Sweeney MSP, a long-time advocate for Glasgow city’s built heritage, was the first politician to arrive at the scene on the night of 8 March. Speaking to the media, he said the fire had revealed a “massive blind spot in our regulation”.
“We need all levels of government to unite to help Glasgow recover from this disaster. Crowdfunding for those whose livelihoods have been wiped out has been amazing, but they need state support.
“I also want a clear commitment to faithful reinstatement of the 175-year-old building,” he said. “Last night [8 March] there was a real fear that the fire would take hold of the Central Station itself. Thankfully, that’s been averted from what we’ve heard on 9 March, but nonetheless you know we’ve got dozens of small businesses that have been completely wiped out, causing significant losses, real trauma here for people on the ground, so while thoughts turn to reconstruction we have to remember that people in the short term are facing significant hardship.”
He added: “The fire did start in a vape shop which has only been open for a matter of months. It’s unclear whether this vape shop had planning consent and what its registration was. Clearly storing highly volatile flammable substances like lithium batteries in an historic building, 175 years old, with all the fire risk that entails, raises serious questions about the oversight and management of all these premises in the city, and of course across Scotland and the whole UK. So this will be a real watershed moment for regulation and there’s certainly going to be questions in Parliament on the regulation around these types of shops, and the government’s response to this disaster.”
Sweeney further added that he is in touch with heritage experts and Glasgow City Council to discuss the reconstruction of the building.
The leader of Glasgow City Council, Susan Aitken, spoke at the scene of the fire on Union Street. Kaukab Stewart, Anas Sarwar and many others also visited the site.
Government support and next steps
The First Minister, John Swinney, spoke to reporters on the morning of 9 March.
“We need to work collectively over the coming days and weeks to understand what the costs are going to be and where they lie. This is going to be incredibly complex.
“It is still a live major incident. It won’t be until the firefighters have finished their work that our building control teams from the council, for example, will be able to get in there. So, there is a lot of work to be done before we can start putting figures on it.”
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