150 students flee blaze at university

ABOUT 150 students were evacuated after a building went on fire in Glasgow city centre last night.

Strathclyde University’s main student union building was affected after smoke was seen coming from the neighbouring James Weir building.

Four fire engines and eight pumps attended the incident, which sent plumes of smoke drifting across George Square.

A spokesman for Strathclyde Fire and Rescue said they had been called to the blaze at 7:15pm. A number of neighbouring streets were closed off.

No-one was believed to have been injured in the fire.

Police said the fire was believed to have been caused by chemicals. The James Weir building houses the university’s chemical engineering department.

Meanwhile, the fire service said a man was rescued from the 14th floor of a burning building in Maryhill in the early hours yesterday.

Four hours were spent evacuating the block of flatse. Crews were called to the fire in Wyndford Road at about 2:40am and were said to be on the scene four minutes later.

Firefighters rescued the man from a balcony and evacuated all the flats above the 14th floor.

Three people were given precautionary check-ups by ambulance crews at the scene, and people were allowed back into their homes shortly after 6am.

Chief fire officer Brian Sweeney said: “This was a textbook operation by our firefighters and shows that our crews are trained and ready to answer the call.”