City Centre Fire Update

Published: 18 June 2018

Residents evacuated

• Emergency services evacuated a limited number of properties in Dalhousie St, Sauchiehall St, Pitt Street and Renfrew St.
• 11 people attended a rest centre established in the early hours of Saturday and were found temporary accommodation later that morning.
• We are aware that a number of those evacuated chose not to attend the rest centre and made their own arrangements. This is normal.
• It is possible that some of those residents, or anyone who was away at the time if the evacuation, could now need assistance.
• Tenants should contact landlords.
• Owners can get help from GCC homelessness service. Call the North West team on 0141 276 6168 during office hours and 0800 838 502 out-of-hours.

Leader of Glasgow City Council Cllr Susan Aitken said: "Our Resilience team worked with staff from the Health and Social Care Partnership and Cordia to establish a rest centre at the Mitchell Library in the early hours of Saturday morning.

"Temporary accommodation was arranged for a those evacuated by the emergency services and that remains in place.

"However, we are conscious that there are people who initially made their own arrangements, or who may have been out of the city at the weekend, who could still need advice or temporary accommodation."

Business support

• Council establishing a Sauchiehall Street taskforce to manage all aspects of recovery - including support for businesses
• Business advisors have spent the morning establishing contact with as many local businesses as possible.
• Council is ready to discuss business rates refunds and appeals, where required.
• Businesses within the safety cordon should contact Business Glasgow at businesssupport@glasgow.gov.uk or 0141 276 5333.

Cllr Aitken said: "Our Business Support team has spent the day contacting as many businesses as they can to assess and understand the challenges they are facing.

"In many cases, the immediate problem is access - which unfortunately is unavoidable while the emergency response is ongoing.

"However, there is a process by which businesses who are in an exclusion zone can apply for a zero rating on business rates, for the period in which they can't operate.

"I'm encouraging anyone in that position to apply - and our officers will be able to give advice on how to do that."

Environment

• A number of local road closures remain in place.
• There are reports of rodents being displaced from the site following the fire.
• We will deploy additional pest-control resources into the surrounding area.
• Contact pest control if your property is affected.

Cllr Aitken "We understand there are reports of rodents in the area and it is likely they have been displaced as drains fill with water during the firefighting operation.

"As it becomes clearer where they are being displaced to, we are putting additional pest control resources into the area to get on top of that situation."