GREAT FIRE IN GLASGOW

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 2727, 9 July 1925, Page 7

GREAT FIRE IN GLASGOW

Famous Hall And Church Destroyed WHOLE STREETS OP TENEMENTS GUTTED. NO LOSS OF LIFE. [By Electric Cable—Copyright.] [AusC. and N.Z. Cable Association.] (Received Wednesday 7 p.m) LONDON, July 7. A fire in Glasgow exhibition building destroyed the famous Kelvin Hall and also gutted a church and wltoie streets of tenement houses. Only an unexpected change in the wind saved the famous art-gallery. The fire broke out in the Kelvin Hall, which is composed largely of timber, and soon the w'hole fabric was ablaze. The flames were blown by a strong wind involving the tenements opposite, whose inmates, who wore preparing the evening meal, fled in terror, carrying their young children. Every available fire engine in Glasgow was quickly on the spot and the fire call was wirelessed all over the west of Scotland.

The whole population of Glasgow turned out to witness this terrifying sight. * Owing to the strong wind, the danger of the fire spreading is not yet over.

The damage is estimated varyingly from a quarter of a million to a million sterling. No lives were lost. Seventy-eight flats were involved, and the flames were so groat that the spectators were first driven back two hundred yards, and then forced to retire still further. The wind carried sparks and actually started a lire, a quarter of a mile away from the central fire, in Kelvin Hall. Thus the Kelvin Grove New Free Church was set ablaze. Firemen rushed to the new outbreak, but Already the interior was a roaring furnace and the building was completely destroyed in fifteen minutes. The church, which was relatively new, was a small replica of Rheimes Cathedral. While the flames Wore roaring below, the towers collapsed and crashed into the street, and spectators had a very narrow scape. SIX FIRES AT ONE TIME. LONDON, July 8. (Received Wednesday 9 p.m) Kelvin Hall belonged to the Corporation. It had the largest floor space in Scotland. Blantyre street, wherefrom the tenants fled, resembles a war-shattered street in France. Not a single pane of glass is left In the houses. The tenants attempted to return to collect their valuables, but the police had to prevent them. The firemen had to fight six fires at one time.