25/08/2026
On this Day: 25th August 1972 Kilbirnie Street, Glasgow
An employee of the Sher Brothers Cash and Carry warehouse at 70/72 Kilbirnie Street, Glasgow, went to the first floor of the premises to get goods for a customer and whilst there she heard a ‘popping’ sound from the floor above, the attic. When she went up the stairs to investigate, she saw smoke and flames. Two other employees started to tackle the blaze with fire extinguishers whilst she returned to the ground floor to raise the alarm.
This brick- built building measured approximately 22M long by 19M wide and consisted of three floors and a pitched timber and slate roof lined on the inside with hardboard. On the ground floor there was a loading bay with stockrooms to the east and north and an open timber stair from the loading area to the 2 upper floors. Built in 1899 the premises had various uses over the years with the current occupiers starting to sell textiles, clothing and household goods from the building in 1970. Whilst the First floor was of concrete construction the Attic floor was composite steel and timber, all supported on cast iron columns. The attic floor consisted of two main compartments. At the head of the stairs there was a landing which was enclosed by a partition. A door to the north gave access to a “U” shaped area (known as the West Store) and a door to the east led into a ceilinged section (known as the East store).
There was no ceiling in the West Store and headroom varied from little more than 0.61 M to 7.3M at the apex of the roof. The stock in this area was also at varying levels. Some was stacked close to the walls with a mere 0.61M headroom, while elsewhere it was racked to a height of about 3.7M. Internal partitioning consisted of timber frames with hardboard lining and stock was stored in cardboard boxes on shelves supported on lightweight metal frame (Dexicon) or stored directly on the floor. There was an external metal staircase, which acted as a Fire Escape, and a goods lift.
The first fire call was logged at 11.21am in Glasgow Fire Control who mobilised 3 fire appliances (two water tenders and a turntable ladder) from South station to the incident in response. Station Officer (Stn. O.) Carroll, in charge of the first attendance, arrived to find the premises evacuated and smoke emerging from the building and the roof. The crews began running out hose and securing a water supply whilst Stn. O. Carroll went to the top floor of the internal stair to gauge the situation and encountered heat and thick black smoke. Returning to the ground floor he ordered 2 firefighters into Breathing Apparatus whilst 2 others advanced, with a length of hose, up the smoke clear staircase and applied water up onto the West Store passage ceiling. As this team advanced into the smoke- filled area, they saw flames and immediately turned the jet of water towards them, extinguishing the outbreak.
Wearing one- hour oxygen breathing apparatus sets, Firefighters (Ff’s) Rook and Howie ascended the stairs and took over the line of hose and ascended to the Attic level. Ff Howie returned to street level to obtain a replacement nose clip and Leading Fireman (Lfm) Smith quickly donned a set and took his place. Ff Howie however got his nose clip replaced and returned to make a team of 3 who advanced the hose line further towards the north- west corner where the fire was more serious. Once they had extinguished this, they found that the fire had spread across the floor. Extinguishing this proved problematic because of the confined space, the volume of generated smoke and the density and stacking of stock.
The arrival of Divisional Officer (DO) Quinn at the incident and his appraisal of the situation after talking to Stn O Carroll, at the top of the stairs, led to a ‘Make Pumps 4’ assistance message being sent to Brigade Control at 11.26 am and 2 further appliances (1 from Queens Park and 1 from West Marine Station) being mobilised. The Salvage Corps had mobilised one appliance on receipt of the initial call and had added a second on receiving the ‘Make Pumps 4’. DO Quinn called for a BA wearer, so that the East Store could be investigated, and Ff Howie returned to the head of the staircase where Ff Murray, not in BA, joined him and they entered the East Store. They quickly discovered fire had spread into the north part of the store and returned to report their findings. DO Quinn rapidly called for another BA team and a hose line to deal with this development.
Stn O Carroll left the building and organised this and saw the arrival of Queens Park’s appliance and directed it into Ritchie Street and called for 2 BA. Leading Firefighter (L/Ff) Brady and Ff Mitchell presuming the attack was to be made via the external staircase ascended to the top floor, with a line of hose, only to find the escape door locked and their entry barred. They descended to the first floor and found the door unlocked and entered. They could not however locate the internal staircase and only saw Salvage personnel sheeting up (covering with salvage sheets) stock and shelving. Returning to the ground they found the front entrance and ascended to the attic.
On the arrival of West Marine’s appliance Stn O Carroll ordered their gaffer Sub O (Sub Officer) Stewart to open up the roof to ventilate. Gaining access via a 45 foot (13.5 metre) ladder his crew created holes in the roof but had to retreat due to the heat and smoke venting. Meanwhile L/Ff Brady and Ff Mitchell were fighting fire in the East Store alongside another BA team. The fire seemed to have been extinguished and the team retired to the stair landing due to the smoke and excessive heat. L/Ff Brady saw fire in the West Store through an open doorway at the North end and utilised his jet to attack this resulting in the 2 jets (his and one in the West Store) impinging on one another.
Assisting the BA crews in the West Store were Ff’s without BA, L/Ff Welsh, Ff’s Gray and Murray. L/Ff Welsh was assisting Ff Smith on the branch and when he saw fire on the left at the West wall he got the jet directed at it and it blasted through the weakened roof causing a hole. Ff Gray was behind them, nearer to the staircase, helping with the hose line whilst Ff Murray, feeling the effects of smoke and heat, went down to the street for fresh air. By now operations had been ongoing for about 25 minutes and DO Quinn was concerned that the fire was still not under control. Consequently, he ordered everyone out of the building, though not everyone would appear to have heard the order. In response Ff Smith laid down the branch and returned to the stair. Ff Gray followed suit but thought that Ff Rook was not reacting so thumped on his back and said ’Rook out’ and then made his way to the staircase. Stn O Campbell appears not have heard the evacuation order and made his way into the West Store only to discover fire to the left of him about 7 metres inside the West Passageway and enlisted Ff Rook’s help to assist him in fighting it with the jet lying nearby. Unfortunately, part of the stacked stock collapsed burying Rook and striking Campbell on the head stunning him.
2 Firefighters, Liddell and McMillan, Turntable Ladder crew, standing outside in the street asked Stn O Carroll if they could be utilised if their appliance wasn’t going to be. He ordered them dress in BA and go up to the attic to assist. On arrival at the attic floor the search for Ff Rook was being initiated and DO Quinn ordered them to enter and find him. Fire had broken out just to the left and inside the doorway to the West Store and Ff Howie, utilising one of the branches previously at work in the East Store, was fighting it. Ff Liddell was quickly overcome by the heat and exited the building with scorching to his face. L/Ff Brady and Ff Mitchell exited the East Store and were ordered into the West Store to find Rook. They passed two prone figures on the floor who were moving material, Ff’s Howie and McMillan.
L/Ff Brady came to a pile of stock up to his chest and started clearing but was rapidly overcome by the heat and had to be assisted out. DO Quinn now entered the West Store and found a previously unconscious Stn O Campbell, open branch in hand, lying on his back on top of a pile of stock. He told him to shut off the branch and they both moved to the landing. All on the attic floor were by now physically exhausted and Ff Rook had still not been found. Everyone, with the exception of Ff McMillan who was left to keep the fire in check at the West Store entry, went downstairs to regroup and make a rescue plan. DO Quinn ordered on the Emergency Tender with more BA sets and called for fresh BA men. Meanwhile one of Ff Rook’s fellow crew members Ff Murray donned the last available BA set and on his own initiative went up to the West Store where he joined Ff McMillan. Together they tackled the fire on the west side, containing it, as they advanced Ff Murray reached a blockage of stock, which was should high, and he started passing the packages back.
At DO Quinn’s call Ff’s Hooper and Findlay responded first, closely followed by L/Ff Crofts and Ff Bermingham. The ET had by this time arrived and all 4 equipped themselves with BA sets and went to the attic floor to reinforce Ff’s McMillan and Murray. DO Quinn followed without BA and Stn O Carroll went between the ground and attic levels maintaining a link and control. The BA team started a joint firefighting and search and rescue operation. DO Quinn sent an informative message ‘One man trapped, one man collapsed’ though indeed 2 men had collapsed. Deputy Firemaster (Dep Fmr) McGill on hearing this proceeded to the incident.
The deteriorating situation in the Attic, a small outbreak in the north west corner of the first floor where fire had broken through (to which he had ordered Sub O Stewart to get a crew and a line of hose to work on) and the lack of firefighters to relieve those who had already been utilised or were being used, lead Stn O Carroll to send a message ‘Make Pumps 8’ to bring on extra resources. On receipt of this message at Control, DO McKinnon mobilised to the incident
Stn O Campbell made his way back to the attic and found the BA team stacking packages in the West Store Passageway and passed on the information regarding where he though Ff Rook was and he thought he heard a BA Distress Unit. Unbeknown to Stn O Campbell the BA team whilst fighting the fire, removing bales and climbing over them had heard Ff Rook’s ‘Diktron’ Distress Signal Unit (a high decibel distress unit which a BA wearer operates by pressing down a lock button on the top when trapped, to alert other wearers to their location) and tracing it back had found Ff Rook covered with bales sitting hunched forward with his legs trapped by other bales still wearing his BA set. Ff Murray held the damaged and unsteady racking up and shone his torch on Ff Rook so that Ff Bermingham could remove the bales trapping him and then grab Rook ‘by the scruff of the neck’, pull him 6 or 7 times to free him from obstructions and drag him out. Ff Murray them dropped to his knees and started to crawl out following them along to the West Passageway.
Stn O Carroll was proceeding up the stair to report to DO Quinn regarding his actions when he saw from the stair that despite L/Ff Welsh standing by ready to extinguish the fire in the first-floor corner the hose was not yet charged and whilst the fire had fallen into the corner and was not yet serious it was worse than he had seen it on his previous visit that had prompted him to get it dealt with. Going to the attic he spoke with DO Quinn and cautioned him on the seriously deteriorating situation. Quinn replied he should deal with it and they would all be out once they rescued Ff Rook. As he returned to the first floor Stn O Carroll could no longer see L/Ff Welsh, who had moved closer to the stair, and encountered L/Ff Smith who had gone to check the water was coming. Suddenly L/Ff Welsh ran towards them with the branch and all 3 had to descend the stair to escape the sudden blast of searing heat as the fire ‘flashed over’. As they descended the water came up the hose and they returned upwards to fight the massive outbreak of fire which encompassed all of the upper surface of the first floor.
Ff Murray arrived at the head of the stairs on the attic level he tumbled down to the half landing and lost his mouthpiece and noseclip, he put his mouthpiece back in and noticed fire above him. He crawled down the stairs following the hose which he lost around the first floor as it was covered in stock and debris. Carrying on he found it further down though his memories of the event finish there. Fighting the fire Stn O Carroll and L/Ff’s Smith and Welsh ascended the staircase and found a pair of legs sticking out which they pulled on and extricated Ff Murray. He had burns to his face and hands and was suffering from other injuries. Though they heard thumping, moaning and the sound of a Distress Warning device, which stopped suddenly, whilst pulling Murray out they could not pe*****te the fierce fire above them. Whilst Stn O Carroll and L/Ff Welsh removed Ff Murray to the street, L/Ff Smith continued fighting the fire but was unable to make any impression.
Out in the street a Turntable Ladder was pitched to the attic level windows, but it was obvious there was no hope of rescue from this serious and extensive fire and water was directed through them to try and extinguish the blaze. Dep. Fmr. McGill had arrived by this time, entered the building and witnessed the first floor well alight and ruled out the possibility of rescues being affected via the internal stair. Similarly, he had looked at the external fire escape stairs and this was also ruled out. DO McKinnon joined the Dep. Fmr. when he arrived and together, they tried to formulate a plan for rescues. Whilst supporting appliances from the ‘Make pumps 8’ message started to arrive Dep.Fmr. McGill took command and called for a roll call to be taken. The Stage 2 BA Board showed that DO Quinn, L/Ff Croft and Ff’s Bermingham, Findlay, McMillan, Hooper and Rook were missing and the roll call confirmed this. The problems facing both the Dep Fmr and DO McKinnon were the need to control the fire but to use minimum water so as not to worsen the conditions and allow survival and rescue to take place as well as finding a suitable entry point from which to carry out those rescues which had minimal risk.
Whilst the upper part of the building was a raging inferno, there was no fire showing at the first-floor windows and so utilising a ladder an entry was effected by the Dep Fmr, the DO and Stn O Campbell through one of them but unfortunately, they found themselves in a toilet and when they opened the door to the right found a large fire which, using the jet they had brought with them, they fought but conditions were so bad they could not stay and had withdrawn. They retreated to the street and the Dep. Fmr., supported by Stn O Campbell, took a jet to the first floor via the internal stair and attacked the fire reducing it considerably. DO McKinnon returned to the first-floor window, re-entered the toilet and broke through to the internal stair where he linked up with the Dep Fmr and the Stn O and whilst covered by another jet advanced up the stair to the half landing. Here they found the bodies of Ff’s Bermingham, McMillan, Hooper and Findlay.
DO McKinnon, at the subsequent Inquiry, stated: ‘It was obvious from their position that the men had been met by a wave of intense heat which prevented them going forward. It was also obvious that they were moving towards the seat of the fire when they were overcome.”
It was now apparent that there was no hope of survival and to subject personnel to further danger was not justifiable and consequently Dep. Fmr. McGill ordered the building to be evacuated until the fire was under control. Firefighting from the street was already taking place but greater volumes of water were now used with aerial jets from 2 Turntable Ladders, 2 Hydraulic Platforms and a ‘Schoosher’ monitor supplemented by handheld jets around the building. Once the fire was contained search for and removal of the bodies was hazardous work as the building was now in a dangerous condition. DO Quinn and then Ff Crofts bodies (at1609 and then 1622) were found covered with debris near the lift shaft. Finally, Ff Rook’s body was found on the top floor around 1800hrs.
Assistant Firemaster W. Kelly, who conducted the brigade’s investigation into the fire, said, at the Inquiry, he had concluded that if the seven firefighters had had another 20 seconds they would have escaped from the building. He spoke of the agonizing decision which faced DO Quinn—whether to abandon one of his men, or to mount a second rescue attempt. He had done what any fire officer would have done in similar circumstances.
Mr. Kelly paid tribute to the firemen and fire officers involved and said Leading Fireman Murray had showed exemplary bravery. He was fortunate to be alive.
At the end of his evidence the Procurator Fiscal commented: “If it is any comfort to you, or to the firemen, I must say that shining like a jewel through this tremendously harrowing experience, all of us here have noted these individual acts of bravery.”
Each of the counsel rose to associate themselves with the Fiscal’s remarks and the Sheriff added that he agreed with them and others with regard to “the courage of the firemen who took part in fighting this fire.”
Firefighters representing every Fire Brigade in the UK attended the funerals of the 7. A Requiem Mass was offered for DO Quinn at Holy Cross Church, Crosshill and then at Glasgow Cathedral a funeral service for the other 6 was conducted. The congregation consisted of 3,000 mourners of which it is thought 500 were firefighters. Loudspeakers relayed the service to some 2,000 outside who couldn’t be accommodated inside.
14 lorry loads of wreaths accompanied the funeral cortege as it wound its way up to the Necropolis in Glasgow and a lone piper played a lament as the six flag draped coffins were prepared for internment following a brief service.
Firefighters Iain Bermingham, Allan Findlay, Duncan McMillan, William Hooper, L/Ff Alastair Crofts and DO Andrew Quinn were all awarded the Queens Commendation for Brave Conduct posthumously for their part in attempting to rescue Ff James Rook.
In a moving tribute to those that lost their lives Firemaster George Cooper QFSM listed the details of those that had made the died.
DIVISIONAL OFFICER III ANDREW P. QUINN
Aged 47, married. South Division. He joined the service in 1948.
LEADING FIREMAN ALISTAIR CROFTS
Aged 31, married with one child and a second child expected. Pollok Fire Station. He joined the service in 1963.
FIREMAN lAIN R. BERMINGHAM
Aged 29, married with one child and a second child expected. South Fire Station. He joined the service in 1964.
FIREMAN ALLAN FINLAY
Aged 20, single. South Fire Station. He joined the service in 1971.
FIREMAN WILLIAM M. HOOPER
Aged 44, married with five children. North West Fire Station. He joined the service in 1952.
FIREMAN DUNCAN A. M. McMILLAN
Aged 25, married with one child. South Fire Station. He joined the service in 1971.
FIREMAN JAMES W. ROOK
Aged 29, single. South Fire Station. He joined the service in 1970.
Once again on this day, as we have for the last 52 years, we will gather at the Glasgow Necropolis to remember all of those named above. As the surviving relatives gradually diminish it falls to us, the Fire Service community, to continue to remember them and all our brothers and sisters who have made that ultimate sacrifice.
I am indebted to Graeme Kirkwood and his website ‘History of the Scottish Fire Brigades’ where I was able to access the ‘Fire’ magazine report, from March 1973, of the incident and the subsequent Inquiry furnished to them by Firemaster G P Cooper, QFSM.
Also, to Arthur Lockyear for his account of the incident in his book ‘Warriors in Fire boots’. Both sources are well worth a look for those that are interested and wish to learn more.
Written by Dave Farries QFSM
