Firefighters have successfully extinguished a major blaze that erupted at the Revolver hotel in Glasgow city centre on Saturday evening. Emergency services safely evacuated all guests and staff from the building on Virginia Street, with no injuries reported.
The alarm went off at 6:20pm on Saturday. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service deployed seven fire engines and two high-reach appliances to tackle the well-developed fire on the fourth floor of the four-storey building. Flames were visible bursting through the hotel's rooftop as pedestrians watched crews battle the blaze.
Emergency services evacuated guests from both the Revolver hotel and the adjoining House of Gods hotel. Emergency services also cleared a nearby soup kitchen operated by Homeless Project Scotland as a precaution. Mercure and Social Hub hotels arranged alternative accommodation for displaced guests.
Fire contained and extinguished
By Sunday afternoon, firefighters had fully extinguished the blaze. One fire engine remained at the scene on a watching brief. Police closed Glassford Street between Ingram Street and Trongate during the incident but reopened it shortly after 7am on Sunday.
Police are not treating the fire as deliberate.
A Revolver Glasgow spokesman said: "Emergency services attended promptly, and we brought the situation under control. We are pleased to confirm that all guests and staff were safely evacuated and that there have been no reported injuries. The safety and wellbeing of everyone on site remains our absolute priority. [...] We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the teams at Mercure and Social Hub for their swift support in assisting with alternative accommodation for our guests during this time."
Soup kitchen remains closed
Homeless Project Scotland confirmed in a social media post: "Everyone is safe. Emergency services attended. For safety reasons, the soup kitchen is now closed until further notice while the situation is assessed."
Glasgow Labour MP Paul Sweeney praised firefighters on X, writing: "Heroic work by these firefighters who have successfully contained a blaze that looked like it was on the brink of consuming one of Glasgow's finest Victorian commercial buildings. Thank you!"
Historic building affected
The affected structure is the Old Scottish Legal Life Building, designed by architect Alexander Skirving and dating from 1889. Sweeney noted it is one of Glasgow's earliest red sandstone commercial buildings.
The Revolver hotel stated it is working closely with emergency services and relevant authorities as assessments continue.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
