Blaze in empty school

Ten appliances tackle major blaze.

At 8:30 pm on Saturday 12th June, Strathclyde Fire & Rescue's Operations Support Centre based in Johnstone received the first of numerous calls reporting fire in the former Notre Dame school buildings, Victoria Circus, Glasgow.The substantial buildings, including the church structure, had been unoccupied for a number of years and were in the process of being refurbished.

On arrival, the initial crews were faced with a well established and rapidly developing fire within the church building which was already affecting the roof supports. Additional fire appliances, crews and specialist support teams were quickly ordered onto the scene. At its height, ten firefighting appliances(including three specialist high reach) were in use to halt the blaze. Additional support vehicles and crews brought the total number of firefighting personnel to around 70.

The structures are all interlinked and the threat of the fire ripping through the entire premises, from one end to the other, was a very real possibility. Only the concerted efforts of the crews in attendance, including close proximity, internal firefighting with handheld hose jets, thwarted its progress.

The main structure, which was ablaze, was flanked on three sides with high volume water jets from three high reach fire appliances. Meanwhile an internal stance was taken, with crews wearing breathing apparatus, to stop the lateral spread of the fire through the buildings.

The blaze has now been brought under control, with only the church structure ( which was already mostly consumed by fire at the point of fire service arrival) affected.The high walls and gable ends of this building are giving some concerns with regard to their stability and Building Control inspections will take place this morning.

At the present time, there is still a substantial fire service presence (two high reach appliances and three pumping engines) damping down the fire debris. Strathclyde Fire and Rescue's specialist Fire Investigation teams are also on scene and liaising closely with Strathclyde Police to determine a cause of the blaze.

There is no further information at this time.