0:00:02 > 0:00:05This is the site of Scotland's worst peace time fire disaster,
0:00:05 > 0:00:08the Cheapside Street Tragedy.
0:00:08 > 0:00:13On a spring evening 50 years ago today, 19 men lost their lives.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16It was the night Glasgow burned.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20It was horrendous.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23It was massive balls of fire roaring right out of the building
0:00:23 > 0:00:25and roaring right up to the third floor.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30I never saw these chappies again. That was it, killed instantly.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34There were all these fellows lying under this rubble.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44Today it's derelict, but 50 years ago,
0:00:44 > 0:00:48this was at the heart of Glasgow's commercial and industrial district.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52Tall buildings crowded in on the narrow streets
0:00:52 > 0:00:54close to the city centre and the Clyde.
0:01:03 > 0:01:0615 years after the end of the Second World War,
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Glasgow's economy was booming. But many of its Victorian
0:01:09 > 0:01:13industrial and commercial buildings had outlived their usefulness.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16The fine facades hid tinderbox premises
0:01:16 > 0:01:18where fires were a regular occurrence.
0:01:18 > 0:01:23In 1958, the City's Fire Master, Martin Chadwick, asked the question,
0:01:23 > 0:01:26"Why the increased fire losses in industry?"
0:01:26 > 0:01:29He blamed management failures to appreciate the value of
0:01:29 > 0:01:33fire prevention but also pointed out one of the biggest problems.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37"By far the greatest proportion of industrial and commercial buildings
0:01:37 > 0:01:39"were not specifically built or designed
0:01:39 > 0:01:42"to accommodate their present occupancy and are in
0:01:42 > 0:01:46"most cases old buildings adapted to satisfy their new occupancy."
0:01:52 > 0:01:57Fire-fighting equipment in the fifties wasn't as sophisticated as today.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01Some of the few machines which remain are lovingly restored in a warehouse in Renfrewshire.
0:02:01 > 0:02:08They recall a time in the 1950s and '60s, when Glasgow was nicknamed "tinderbox city."
0:02:08 > 0:02:12Glasgow suffered relatively little damage compared
0:02:12 > 0:02:15to other major UK cities in terms of bomb damage,
0:02:15 > 0:02:18and that was why the city still had a lot of these buildings
0:02:18 > 0:02:22close to the city centre. Old factories, whisky bonds.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24A much larger stock of these old buildings
0:02:24 > 0:02:27which didn't have fire alarms all crowded together.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32Not much elbow room for the fire brigade to fight such fires.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35Calls to the Glasgow Fire Brigade rose steadily
0:02:35 > 0:02:38in the post war years, and with them the number of fatalities.
0:02:38 > 0:02:43Fire was a huge problem and losses in commercial properties were mounting.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46The city was the second city in the Empire.
0:02:46 > 0:02:51Glasgow obviously built to suit the manufacturing needs
0:02:51 > 0:02:52and property didn't change.
0:02:52 > 0:02:57Nothing was replaced, it stayed there. It escaped the wartime damage.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59It was still in existence after the War,
0:02:59 > 0:03:04there was very little building taking place and the properties were being
0:03:04 > 0:03:07adapted for whatever purposes they felt they needed to use them for.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13It all came together to disastrous effect that spring evening.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17At 7.10 that evening, George Pinkstone, depot superintendent
0:03:17 > 0:03:20of the Eldorado Ice Cream Company, stepped into this street.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23He noted nothing unusual, but a few minutes later
0:03:23 > 0:03:26when he went back inside, he smelled burning wood.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29He came back out into the street and saw smoke billowing
0:03:29 > 0:03:34from the second floor windows of the Arbuckle and Smith whisky bond.
0:03:41 > 0:03:46Things developed quickly. Pinkstone made a 999 call at 7.15.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50We got the call to Cheapside Street,
0:03:50 > 0:03:55and on the road I asked our officer where we were going, and he said,
0:03:55 > 0:03:57"We're going to Cheapside Street."
0:03:57 > 0:04:03All we knew was it was a whisky bond and of course senior firemen
0:04:03 > 0:04:06in these days would wind you up,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09meaning, you know, this is a job, Raymond.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13We had already been to two bonds during the day, in the afternoon,
0:04:13 > 0:04:17which were both bell faults, so there was nothing.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20I said, maybe it will be something this time,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23but I hope not, because I wanted back to finish my dinner.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28At 7.18 the first appliances arrived,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31two pumps and a turntable ladder as well as the new fire boat
0:04:31 > 0:04:34and a tender from the Glasgow Salvage Corps.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38At 7.21 a radio call was made, "make pumps five,"
0:04:38 > 0:04:42an indication more fire tenders were required.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46You could see it was a fire then because there was quite a lot
0:04:46 > 0:04:49of smoke billowing about. No flame but plenty of smoke.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53James Dunlop, a newly qualified fireman on his first full shift,
0:04:53 > 0:04:54was part of that back up.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58The thing was to surround the fire by fire appliances.
0:04:58 > 0:05:03That's why two streets were used to approach the situation.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07At 7.47, the Assistant Fire Master, who was now in charge, sent a call
0:05:07 > 0:05:11for yet more reinforcements, "make pumps eight."
0:05:11 > 0:05:15The building this side and the building that side were
0:05:15 > 0:05:18closing in on me a wee bit and I was a wee bit, I don't know,
0:05:18 > 0:05:22it was a feeling you just don't know what's going to happen.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25So I said, "I'll turn round about". Which was a good job.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29A minute later, a massive explosion took place,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32blowing out the walls of both sides of the building.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36I was facing the building at the time and I turned round.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38EXPLOSION
0:05:38 > 0:05:39Whoomph!
0:05:39 > 0:05:42Then that's when the explosion happened.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44I don't remember anything after that.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47I turned round and the whole building had blown out.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Oh... absolutely horrific.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52It sent sandstone blocks and bricks crashing
0:05:52 > 0:05:56into Cheapside Street on one side and Warroch Street on the other.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59Four firemen were trying to get in the window.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02They made a dash for it into the middle of the road.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06Obviously they were killed instantly, you know.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09CRASHING
0:06:09 > 0:06:13They'd no chance, the building just came down on top of them.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16They were buried under about five or six feet of rubble,
0:06:16 > 0:06:20big heavy blocks of stone. There was nothing you could do for them.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23That was it. And it was burning as well, the rubble.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26It was just mayhem after that.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28Whisky barrels all over the place.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33At 7.50, fire brigade control received a new message,
0:06:33 > 0:06:37"make pumps ten." Inside the building, the fire intensified.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41I was stationed in Govan at the time and it was a make-up from Govan
0:06:41 > 0:06:44which meant it was a larger fire than normal.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49Driving along the Clyde side we could see,
0:06:49 > 0:06:51and we knew we were in for something.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58By 8.12, Fire Master Martin Chadwick,
0:06:58 > 0:06:59who had arrived on the scene,
0:06:59 > 0:07:04called, "make pumps 15", but even that wasn't enough.
0:07:04 > 0:07:09At 8.20, just over an hour after the 999 call, he radioed,
0:07:09 > 0:07:11"make pumps 20."
0:07:11 > 0:07:14It was one of the biggest call outs for the fire service in peacetime.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32My mum and I were watching television.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35We were watching a western on ITV called Wagon Train.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39It just went direct to a newsflash. There was a disastrous fire
0:07:39 > 0:07:42in Glasgow with four firemen killed apparently, and 17 trapped.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44And in the north-west fire station,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47then the station just lit up like a lantern.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51My mum, she was screaming, "Your dad, George, your dad!"
0:07:55 > 0:07:58At one in the morning, another explosion.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00Underground whisky storage vats exploded,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04bringing down another wall of the bond. No-one was injured this time,
0:08:04 > 0:08:08and firefighters could begin to recover their dead colleagues.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11My first thought was anger. What was happening here?
0:08:11 > 0:08:14Not anger at anything, but at the situation.
0:08:16 > 0:08:21For all these fellows lying under this rubble,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24whisky barrels bouncing on top of them, bursting into flames.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26There was not much we could do about it.
0:08:32 > 0:08:40We had the added danger of the barrels of whisky exploding,
0:08:40 > 0:08:46going on fire in the street. And the street was just aflame.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57It was as if some giant was throwing them, throwing out the barrels.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00And they were landing on top of the rubble and bursting.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Miniature bombs going off with these barrels coming out. Bang!
0:09:03 > 0:09:05Bursting into flames.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07It wasn't until 6.18 in the morning,
0:09:07 > 0:09:12exactly 11 hours after the first appliances had arrived here,
0:09:12 > 0:09:17that the fire brigade said the blaze was finally under control.
0:09:17 > 0:09:22Even so, it was March 30th, two days after the explosion,
0:09:22 > 0:09:24that the final body was recovered.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26By dawn on the 29th,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30the enormity of what had happened overnight became clear.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Apart from the shocking loss of life, the estimated cost
0:09:33 > 0:09:39of damage was more than £3 million, £45 million today.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43It's now confirmed that 19 men died in the fire.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46I have never a blaze like the one in Glasgow last night,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48and I doubt many of you have, except in the Blitz.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51Between seven and eight o'clock in the evening
0:09:51 > 0:09:55somebody saw smoke coming from a big warehouse on the banks of the Clyde.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58Suddenly, and without any warning, the warehouse exploded
0:09:58 > 0:10:02and burst wide open and tons of masonry came crashing down
0:10:02 > 0:10:05on the men and the fire engine in the street below.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08That was how the worst peacetime fire in Glasgow
0:10:08 > 0:10:10began to kill the men who had come to fight it.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15More or less blown literally under the turntable ladder.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17'If you hadn't turned your back?'
0:10:17 > 0:10:22Oh, I think I would have got the full blast. I would have went as well
0:10:22 > 0:10:25with the laddies that were in front of me, you know.
0:10:25 > 0:10:31Literally. I still say somebody up there liked me. That was it.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34Firm believer in that. Totally, you know, that way.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41The next day, the stories of heroism began to emerge in
0:10:41 > 0:10:45the morning newspapers which showed the horror in graphic detail,
0:10:45 > 0:10:50photographs appearing on breakfast tables even as the ruins smouldered.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57Daily Mail reporter, Stuart McCartney,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00had been one of the first journalists on the scene,
0:11:00 > 0:11:02and is still amazed the death toll hadn't been higher.
0:11:02 > 0:11:07I can see the fire tender, to this day, on fire.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11I'll never forget the fireman and the tender and the fireman up there,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14and I thought how brave, how brave a man he was.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16And I was very surprised that he lived,
0:11:16 > 0:11:20because I couldn't see, I couldn't see him getting down
0:11:20 > 0:11:24because of the flames were, had engulfed the engine.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26The man who wound him down,
0:11:26 > 0:11:29look at the flames round him, a very brave man.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33James Dunlop's George Medal was one of two awarded that night.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36It's the highest civilian honour for bravery.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40But at the time, he had no thoughts of heroism, just duty.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43It was a 100 foot ladder, fully extended.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47Willie Waters was on the platform on the turntable ladder.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50He was thrown off the platform, and blown about,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52and was hanging by his belt.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56So we were covered pretty much by fire then on the ground.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59He had got his feet back on the platform again,
0:11:59 > 0:12:01and was holding on with his hands and his belt.
0:12:01 > 0:12:07We were told to clear out because it was a dangerous situation.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10I couldn't leave Waters up there.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13I had put him up, I was going to have to bring him down again.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15But at the rear of the appliance where I was,
0:12:15 > 0:12:21there was an emergency button controlling the engine,
0:12:21 > 0:12:25so I pressed that, and the engine fired and started up again
0:12:25 > 0:12:26and managed to get power on.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30I saw Jimmy Dunlop bringing Willie Waters down,
0:12:30 > 0:12:32which he won the George Medal for.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36Willie Waters was also commended for his bravery.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40Among the other stories of heroism was a police officer who pulled
0:12:40 > 0:12:44a trapped fireman from the rubble of the collapsed building.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47The death toll was made up of three firemen who died
0:12:47 > 0:12:51when their turntable ladder was buried in Cheapside Street
0:12:51 > 0:12:54in the explosion there. Its crew hadn't even been able
0:12:54 > 0:12:57to raise the ladder to begin fighting the blaze.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59But in the narrower Warroch Street,
0:12:59 > 0:13:03where Jimmy Dunlop's turntable ladder stood burned out in
0:13:03 > 0:13:07the middle of the road, the majority of fatalities had occurred.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09Five Salvage Corps and 11 firemen.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14I went down to Cheapside Street. It was horrendous.
0:13:14 > 0:13:19Massive balls of fire roaring a good five or six feet out of the building.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23Roaring right up to the third floor or the fourth floor.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27And whisky barrels falling out at that time, too.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29It was just massive inferno.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31A colossal number of jets of water everywhere.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34I've never seen a fire in my life like it.
0:13:40 > 0:13:41Amid the stories of heroism,
0:13:41 > 0:13:44the night was also heavily tinged with sadness.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48All the men got out of the car.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52Eddie took off his collar and tie, white collar and tie,
0:13:52 > 0:13:55and laid them on the dashboard of the vehicle. He said,
0:13:55 > 0:13:58"You keep these clean now, don't get them dirty
0:13:58 > 0:14:01"and I'll get them when I come back."
0:14:01 > 0:14:05I feared for the worst, that they may have been caught, so I went back,
0:14:05 > 0:14:10and Eddie's tie was hanging on, it was swinging back and forward,
0:14:10 > 0:14:13and I was on my own. And I couldn't understand this.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17One minute there was a full crew, the next minute I'm on my own.
0:14:19 > 0:14:24I didn't know that Joe, of course, had been found at that time.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26I assumed that they were all gone.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30The next thing I remember I was lying among bricks and rubble,
0:14:30 > 0:14:36and there was an iron post over my legs and a terrible pain in my back.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39They got me onto a stretcher and took me down onto the Clydeside
0:14:39 > 0:14:43and from the Clydeside the ambulance took me to the Western Infirmary.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48I kept asking, "Are you sure there isn't anybody else here?"
0:14:48 > 0:14:51I felt sure there was going to be more there, you know.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55I went down Cheapside Street and met a fireman who stayed
0:14:55 > 0:14:58in the northwest fire station, Gordon Keith. I said,
0:14:58 > 0:15:00"Mr Keith, have you seen my dad?"
0:15:00 > 0:15:02"No, I don't see him, son, he might be down at the bottom.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05"You'll need to go right down to the Clydeside."
0:15:05 > 0:15:08But I wasn't allowed down then.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14My next door neighbour, Jimmy Mungall, he was killed.
0:15:14 > 0:15:19The chap who lived up the stair above me, Willie Oliver, was killed.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21And when I came back that night,
0:15:21 > 0:15:25of course, the women were all in the back court.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30And, of course I could hear all the women shouting, "Where's my man?
0:15:30 > 0:15:33"What's happened, what's going on?"
0:15:33 > 0:15:37And I sneaked out, I sneaked out the side door.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41I went up, up to my own house rather than meet any of the wives
0:15:41 > 0:15:44because I couldn't tell them anything at all.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55The deputy firemaster came to my mum's house, Mr Swanson,
0:15:55 > 0:15:59and he just dissolved into tears. He just totally broke down.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03He was a wonderful neighbour and he stayed next door to us for years.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06He was a lovely gentleman and a wonderful fireman, too.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09And poor Mr Swanson, he just dissolved into tears when he
0:16:09 > 0:16:12came to my mum and said he was sorry for losing my dad.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14He said, "I've lost the cream of my men tonight."
0:16:14 > 0:16:17And he just broke his heart in my living room.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21In the aftermath of the Cheapside Street blaze,
0:16:21 > 0:16:24a collection began for the families of the dead fire and salvage men.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27There were 18 wives and 31 children left.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31The collection raised a total of almost £200,000,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34the equivalent today of £3 million.
0:16:36 > 0:16:41BAGPIPES PLAY A LAMENT
0:16:41 > 0:16:44Glasgow provided what amounted to a state funeral
0:16:44 > 0:16:46for the 19 victims of the fire.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49It was attended by firemen from all over the UK.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53The bodies of all the dead men had been taken to the Ramshorn Kirk,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56the traditional firemen's church.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01On the day of the funeral it was just very poignant
0:17:01 > 0:17:04and so stressful day of sadness.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07One of my colleagues, Tommy Renton, the piper,
0:17:07 > 0:17:11played The Flowers of the Forest. I remember that.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14I know was there were thousands there, certainly hundreds,
0:17:14 > 0:17:20- lining Ingram Street.- Firemen from all over Britain were there.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23What was going through my mind,
0:17:23 > 0:17:28was I really going to the cemetery for my young brother?
0:17:28 > 0:17:32I just couldnae take it in.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35So sad, totally sad.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37You know, just tragic.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45I couldnae cry then because I had to look after my mother then.
0:17:45 > 0:17:51You just needed to mention his name, you know, she'd just go into tears.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53A requiem Mass for the four Roman Catholics
0:17:53 > 0:17:56took place at St Andrew's Cathedral,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58but as all the men had died together,
0:17:58 > 0:18:02it was decided they should all be buried in a common vault
0:18:02 > 0:18:04in the Necropolis.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10MUSIC: "How Great Thou Art" by Carl Gustav Boberg
0:18:17 > 0:18:19The coffins went up the High Street
0:18:19 > 0:18:23and we made our way to the Necropolis. It was very stressful
0:18:23 > 0:18:27for young people, my brother and myself, my older brother.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30I was one of the pall bearers at the funeral and you felt
0:18:30 > 0:18:34as if you were being watched all the time, everything you did.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40Certainly, the people were amazing that they all turned out for this.
0:18:52 > 0:18:57There was a lot of pride, obviously, definitely a lot of sadness.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01Sadness for the wives, the families, the kids.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03This was the people that were left.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07We lost the guys and that was it. We couldn't do anymore for them.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10The families were very close-knit families.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12People lived in the stations
0:19:12 > 0:19:15and got to know one another so well.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Pretty sad. Not nice.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29It must have been hell on earth for men like that to survive it.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33It must have been a terrible shock to their systems that their comrades
0:19:33 > 0:19:37had gone to a fire and go back to the station with an empty appliance.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39It must have been dreadful for these men.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43I know it was a dreadful situation in the northwest,
0:19:43 > 0:19:45a terrible gloom went over the place.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50The coffins were passing.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55It was just unbelievable really, you know...
0:19:55 > 0:19:58that I had lost him.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21But when the rawness of the grief had subsided, the hunt began
0:20:21 > 0:20:25for answers to the many questions posed by this disaster.
0:20:25 > 0:20:31Here in the Glasgow Archives in the Mitchell Library, ironically built where the St Andrew's Halls had been
0:20:31 > 0:20:38destroyed by fire in 1962, official documents give a clue as to why the scale of loss of life was so severe.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42And what might have been done to prevent such a tragedy.
0:20:42 > 0:20:47We don't know what the cause of the fire was but we do know the building's windows had been
0:20:47 > 0:20:54bricked up, its sprinkler system ripped out, and there was no automatic fire detection equipment.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58Yet no legislative action followed the Cheapside Street tragedy.
0:21:01 > 0:21:06The scale of the disaster shocked the nation and questions were asked about how this could have happened,
0:21:06 > 0:21:10even as demolition workers moved in to clear the site.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13Politicians were keen to be seen to be acting. But they didn't,
0:21:13 > 0:21:18and there would be several more disastrous fires in Glasgow before the laws finally changed.
0:21:18 > 0:21:24There's a lot more than Cheapside Street, there's been a few deaths since then.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26Picture one fireman at the top of a tenement building,
0:21:26 > 0:21:30his head out of the window, shouting down to the rest of us,
0:21:30 > 0:21:35"I've got a woman up here, but everything's OK." Fine.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39And we shouted back that the fire's under control, we'll see you shortly.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42And we did see him, he was dead.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45He had given his breathing apparatus to the woman.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52In England, law changes followed fire disasters much more quickly.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55Most of the guests were regulars, coming here
0:21:55 > 0:21:59every year to celebrate Christmas in this 16th century coaching inn.
0:21:59 > 0:22:04Just before 2am, the hotel was a blazing inferno.
0:22:05 > 0:22:0911 people died in this hotel fire in Essex in 1969.
0:22:09 > 0:22:14After that, a new act required hotels to have a fire certificate.
0:22:14 > 0:22:19There were ten fatalities in Woolworths in Manchester two years later.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23Polyurethane foam in furniture was banned after that.
0:22:23 > 0:22:28And after 56 people died in the Bradford City football ground fire,
0:22:28 > 0:22:31new legislation on sports ground safety was enacted.
0:22:31 > 0:22:36Following another horrendous fire in Glasgow, this time in 1968,
0:22:36 > 0:22:39MPs were still complaining fire brigades in Scotland
0:22:39 > 0:22:42couldn't inspect premises uninvited.
0:22:42 > 0:22:4722 people died when a furniture factory in James Watt Street caught fire.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51Many of the victims had been trapped behind barred windows.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53But most recently, following deaths of 14 elderly residents
0:22:53 > 0:22:56of the Rosepark Nursing Home in Lanarkshire,
0:22:56 > 0:23:02Holyrood passed the Fire Scotland Act to change the way brigades can inspect premises.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07But virtually nothing changed as a result of the 19 deaths in Cheapside Street.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13The Arbuckle and Smith bond contained more than
0:23:13 > 0:23:17a million gallons of whisky and 31,000 gallons of rum.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21The DCL bond was across the road, and in Warroch Street
0:23:21 > 0:23:24an engineering works where thousands of gas canisters were stored.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27The windows of the stricken bond were bricked up,
0:23:27 > 0:23:31so once the fire started it was a pressure cooker waiting to blow.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36Back at the Mitchell Library, documentation prepared for a negligence claim reveals
0:23:36 > 0:23:40the fire brigade was ill-prepared for such a cataclysmic event.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45Fireman after fireman, questioned by investigators, said they'd received
0:23:45 > 0:23:48no specific training for whisky bond fires.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53"No references to bond fires in any circulars, pamphlets or manuals."
0:23:53 > 0:23:58"I've looked at all manuals and circulars back to 1940 -
0:23:58 > 0:24:01"no reference to fires in bonds."
0:24:01 > 0:24:06A third says no specific training is given in firefighting in bonds.
0:24:06 > 0:24:12It was obviously a tricky question because each man's evidence contains an addition, stating that such fires
0:24:12 > 0:24:17were a matter for training, and that no such training was given.
0:24:17 > 0:24:23Progress through the door to the left hand side and deal with the fire conditions. Are you happy with that?
0:24:23 > 0:24:26- Anything you want to ask before you head off?- No.- OK.
0:24:30 > 0:24:35The room opens to the left. Go through the door and move to the left hand side.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37Have another go, see what else I can see.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45Today's firefighters have infinitely better equipment than 50 years ago.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49Their understanding of the mechanism of fires has improved, too.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54But, crucially, the training for all eventualities has become more rigorous.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00Even for highly unusual events such as Cheapside Street.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10This memorial to the Cheapside dead in the Necropolis
0:25:10 > 0:25:15where they are buried was unveiled a year after the fire. Perhaps the disaster had been a one-off.
0:25:15 > 0:25:21There has been no similar blaze in a whisky bond since the Cheapside disaster.
0:25:21 > 0:25:26But that was of little comfort to the bereaved families of those who died that night.
0:25:26 > 0:25:33This memorial provides a permanent reminder of their sacrifice, but today there are those who
0:25:33 > 0:25:39are wondering if, as a result of a lack of official action, that sacrifice may have been in vain.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43Did we learn lessons from Cheapside Street?
0:25:45 > 0:25:47Thinking back.
0:25:47 > 0:25:48Not a great deal.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53I don't think. Unfortunately.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56Today, the fire service remembers its heroes,
0:25:56 > 0:25:59with a new book just published.
0:25:59 > 0:26:05And one of the points that I make is that organisations that lose their sense of history,
0:26:05 > 0:26:10their sense of identity, often lose their way in the world.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13We have never lost that sense of history.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17It may have taken 50 years, but a plaque is finally being completed
0:26:17 > 0:26:20to mark the disaster in Cheapside Street.
0:26:23 > 0:26:31And younger generations are now also remembering what happened, with a mosaic for the area.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35The young people have been fantastic, they have really got involved.
0:26:35 > 0:26:40They really understand the reasons behind it and why we are doing it.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43And they are all working really hard to get it finished.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55For those who were actually there, and saw terrible sights
0:26:55 > 0:27:01and lost friends and comrades, the most important things are to learn and never forget.
0:27:07 > 0:27:12We still go up there every year to pay our respects at 11 o'clock on the 28th.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15Hell or high water, we are always there.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20It was very much a sort of John F Kennedy kind of occasion
0:27:20 > 0:27:25that people would remember for the rest of their lives where they were.
0:27:25 > 0:27:31Especially in Glasgow, they would remember. They could have lived miles away, even outside the city.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35People as far away as Stirling could see the glow of the fire.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Let's face it - we were young,
0:27:41 > 0:27:43and it was an exciting job we were in.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47It's all sad. Totally sad.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49It was tragic.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51It was a wake-up call totally for me.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03The Salvage Corps was never the same. Never the same.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07I really felt sorry for the families and especially the children.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10A lot of them were about four, five.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13I suppose
0:28:13 > 0:28:18for those of us who managed to escape the blast,
0:28:18 > 0:28:23it was...thankfulness really.
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