Five rescued after Category B listed building in Glasgow deliberately set ablaze

Five teenagers were rescued from a building on Saturday morning which police believe was set ablaze deliberately.

Shortly before 11.30am on January 27, emergency services were called to reports of a building on fire on Carlton Court in Glasgow.

Six fire appliances and specialist resources were called to the scene and firefighters extinguished the blaze within the basement of the historic derelict building.

Five young people were removed and passed to paramedics for precautionary checks.

The fire was extinguished by crews and the damage was “minor”.

The remnants of an old cannabis cultivation were also found within the building, which was formerly the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice.

Police are treating the fire as wilful and enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances of the blaze.

Carlton Place was designed by Peter Nicholson in 1802 as part of John Laurie’s new town.

Glasgow MSP Paul Sweeney said on Sunday he went to inspect the Category B listed building.

He said he had written to Glasgow City Council’s planning department to ask that an Urgent Work Notice under Section 49 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 be served.

It would give the building’s owner a minimum of seven days’ notice of the council’s intention to carry out emergency works considered urgently necessary to preserve the listed building and prescribe those works.

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 11.27am on Saturday, January 27 to reports of a building fire on Carlton Court, Glasgow.

“Operations Control mobilised six appliances and specialist resources to the scene, where firefighters extinguished a fire within the basement of a derelict building.

“Five people were removed from the building and passed to the Scottish Ambulance Service for precautionary checks.

“Crews left after ensuring the area was made safe.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 12pm on Saturday, January 27, 2024, we were made aware of a fire at a property on Carlton Place, Glasgow.

“Emergency services attended, there were no reports of injuries and the fire was extinguished.

“It is being treated as wilful and enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.”