FIRE BREAKS OUT AT REFURBISHED GLASGOW HOUSING BLOCK

A fire broke out in a fourth-floor flat at a newly-refurbished housing association tenement in Glasgow on Sunday at approximately 16:50, police said. No one was injured in the blaze at the building on Stonyhurst Street, Possilpark. The cause remains under investigation. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service deployed six fire engines and specialist resources to the scene, with two appliances remaining on Monday to dampen down the fire.

The building had been derelict for 20 years before receiving £3m in government investment for renovation as affordable homes. NG Homes, the housing association that owns the block, said the flats would provide homes for people on its waiting list. Glasgow MSP Paul Sweeney claimed the fire was started deliberately following false claims circulating on social media that the flats would be used to house asylum seekers. NG Homes dismissed the rumours, stating the claims were false and that the buildings were being refurbished to provide affordable homes for the community. Councillor Ruairi Kelly said that if the fire was a deliberate arson attack, those responsible had only extended waiting times for local people needing housing.

NG Homes said the damage was still being assessed and it was too early to confirm the impact on renovation timescales. Sweeney stated in a social media post that spreading disinformation about the flats' intended use had generated hostility in the community and contributed to the incident. He emphasised the flats were never intended for asylum seekers or refugees, and called the situation "outrageous" given the city's housing emergency.