Five decades on, the night Glasgow burned is remembered by a Lenzie man
FIFTY years may have passed since Britain's worst peace-time fire disaster, but for one Lenzie man the vivid memories of that terrible night will never fade.
When Bob Scouller and six brave colleagues of Glasgow Salvage Corps answered the call to Cheapside Street on March 28, 1960, they had no idea what they were heading into.
Only Bob would return home, alone in the tender – forced to leave five friends dead below the burning rubble and one man hurt.
Shortly after arriving at the scene, the bonded warehouse exploded – raining down tonnes of masonry, debris and burning alcohol on to the streets below.
A total of 14 firemen and five Salvage Corps personnel perished.
The 50th anniversary of the tragedy was marked on Sunday by those who fought the blaze and the friends, family and colleagues of those who could not attend.
That blackest of nights on March 28, 1960, is far removed from Bob's home in South Claddens Estate, but as the memories stir and the years fall away, the 85-year-old has a clear recollection of the terrible events.
The first report of a fire in a bonded warehouse at Cheapside Street, Anderston, came at 7.15pm.
Bob and his Salvage Corps colleagues were sitting down to tea in Albion Street when the bell rang. They piled into the machine, driven by Bob – leading salvageman driver – and quickly made it to the scene.
"They got out, but there was nothing really they could see," recalls Bob. "There were no flames."
Unknown to the men, within the factory the fire was taking hold, fuelled by over a million gallons of whisky and rum.
Bob was told to drive round to Warroch Street, where Deputy Chief Salvage Officer, Superintendent Eddie Murray, paused to take off his white collar and tie.
"He took it off and hung it on the dashboard and said 'Bob, you look after that and don't let it get dirty'. He got out with the crew and started to walk down Warroch Street."
Bob called out to the last man, Joe Smith, to help him move some of the hoses lining the street – vital moments which may have saved his life.
Joe went off after the rest of the men, but never caught up with them – he would be buried by debris when the explosion took place, but would live.
Bob walked around three-quarters of the way down the street before a strange feeling came over him.
"I didn't see the men again," he told the Herald. "I was on my own. I felt a wee bit uneasy and started to walk back. I just didn't like the look of it.
"I came across four firemen working, trying to get into a small window grill on the side of the building. They shouted 'driver, can you get us an axe?'.
"I turned and walked a few steps when I heard this big 'whoompf'. I turned round and the whole building just blew out in front of my eyes.
"I saw the four firemen running, but instead of running up the street after me, they ran into the middle of the road. The debris – tonnes of rubble – fell on top of them and they were gone.
"I heard their last shouts, the poor souls, I'll never forget that. It was really terrible what happened."
Bob feared the worst for his own crew. He could see barrels stacked on the top floor of the exposed building, which began toppling to the ground.
He recalled: "It was just like some giant was throwing the barrels into the street. When they hit the rubble, they burst and all the spirit started burning."
For families waiting anxiously for news of their loved ones, it was a terrible time. Fortunately a reporter who spoke to Bob went to Albion Street to tell his wife, Hedwig, and son – Richard, then 10 – that he was okay.
Eventually, when it became clear nothing more could be done for the missing men, Bob was sent home in the early hours of March 29.
He recalls driving back to Albion Street: "There were seven when I went out and I came home alone. Eddie's tie was hanging, dangling to and fro. I just looked at it. That made it even worse."
Anguished wives of the salvagemen were in the back court, but Bob was too shattered to give them any news.
The blaze was eventually tamed just after 6am. At the height of the inferno, 450 firefighters were involved, with 25 pumps in use and a fire boat on the Clyde.
The bodies of the 14 firemen and five Salvage Corps personnel were eventually recovered from the rubble.
Their funeral elicited an unprecedented response from the people of Glasgow, with an estimated 16,000 watching the funeral cortege.
Bob left Glasgow Salvage Corps after 30 years, by which time he was assistant superintendent – retiring to Lenzie in 1979.
Remembering Cheapside in his living room, 50 years on, Bob said: "I kept on hoping, maybe it was all a dream and I'll wake up in the morning and everything will be all right, but unfortunately it wasn't."
A POIGNANT new book commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Cheapside Street Disaster and major fires in post-war Glasgow. Tinderbox Heroes, published by Strathclyde Fire and Rescue's Retired Employees Association, is available at Waterstones' Sauchiehall Street and Argyle Street branches in Glasgow, priced 12.99 – by Alan Forbes and James Smith.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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