The Glasgow Union Street Fire: legal lessons for Scottish businesses

On 8 March, a fire engulfed a 19^th century building on the corner of Union Street and Gordon Street in the centre of Glasgow. Over 250 firefighters were involved in efforts to make the area safe, using specialist equipment including a high-volume pump that drew water from the River Clyde. The building partially collapsed, and is now being completely dismantled by demolition workers. The site is adjacent to Glasgow Central station – the busiest in Scotland – which has only just fully re-opened.

Thankfully, no-one was killed or seriously injured. But the loss of a landmark building that had stood for over 170 years, and which housed dozens of retail units, has raised serious questions about fire safety compliance and regulatory oversight. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has said that the fire started in a ground floor shop that sold vapes, and a multi-agency investigation into the specific cause of the fire has begun.

This article looks at the law as it relates to fire safety, where liability for fire safety lies, and the challenges presented by new technologies; and then suggests some actions that Scottish business and property owners should consider.

The law as it relates to fire safety

Two statutory provisions are key. The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 establishes the legal framework for fire safety in Scotland by defining the key responsibilities and overarching fire safety duties. The Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006 support the 2005 Act’s implementation by detailing requirements such as maintaining fire alarms, having sufficient escape routes and firefighting equipment, adequate staff training, record-keeping, and the regular maintenance of a fire safety management system.

The 2005 Act assigns fire safety duties to “duty holders” in relation to “relevant premises”. Specifically, it imposes a duty on employers to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, the safety of their employees in respect of harm caused by fire in the workplace. Duties are also imposed on those who have control of relevant premises – including landlords, occupiers, business operators, and those who are contractually responsible for maintenance and repairs. Their duties include carrying out a fire risk assessment for the premises and taking such fire safety measures as in all the circumstances are reasonable to take to ensure the safety of individuals.

The Act defines relevant premises as, put simply, almost all non-domestic premises except mines, offshore installations, and certain ships in port or docked.

Fire risk assessments: the cornerstone of compliance

To determine what fire precautions are required, a risk assessment must be carried out, the results reviewed, and fire safety measures taken accordingly. The responsibility for this rests with the duty holder. The Union Street fire serves as a reminder that risk assessing is not just a tick-box exercise, but is fundamental in protecting peoples’ lives, property and businesses.

The mere existence of a risk assessment is not enough to comply with fire safety law. It must be both suitable and sufficient for the premises and its activities, and should do the following:

Identify people at risk
Identify fire hazards
Evaluate those risks and the precautions that are already in place

Risk assessments should also be periodically reviewed, to ensure that they are up-to-date with any changes and continue to comply with fire safety laws. Both the SFRS and the Health and Safety Executive provide online guidance on risk assessments.

Enforcement by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service

The SFRS is the enforcing agency in respect of fire safety laws and has wide-ranging powers to investigate and act. These include issuing Prohibition Notices, which force an immediate halt to all work activities until identified risks have been dealt with; Enforcement Notices, which specify breaches and give deadlines by which improvements must be made; and Alteration Notices, which require duty holders to notify them before making any changes that affect fire safety. Failure to comply with any of these notices once issued is a criminal offence.

Fire safety and emerging technologies

Initial reports that the fire started in a ground floor vape shop attracted a lot of attention, and the issue of regulating vapes specifically was raised during First Minister’s Questions. Perhaps the bigger question, however, is the regulation of a wide range of emerging technologies. Lithium-ion batteries would be a good place to start: they are used not just in vapes but also in many other products, including portable electronics, cars, scooters, drones and household tools. They present a particularly significant fire hazard as they can enter ‘thermal runaway’ – a rapid, uncontrollable chain reaction that results in fires, explosions and the release of toxic gas.

Recorded fires caused by lithium batteries in the UK increased by 93% between 2022 and 2024, from 690 to 1335. (In Scotland, most recent figures show a significant increase from 3 fires associated with lithium batteries in 2018, to 69 fires in 2025.) The majority of these happened in peoples’ homes, due to incorrect charging of laptops, phones and vapes. There has also been an increase in fires at recycling and refuse centres due to incorrect disposal of lithium batteries.

Clearly, businesses that store or charge lithium batteries face significantly higher fire safety risks. As a starting point, duty holders should consider the following:

The number and type of batteries kept in the property
How these products are charged and the location of charging
Where and how these products are stored
The potential risk of overheating or damage
Whether the existing fire detection and extinguishing equipment is adequate

Suggested action for Scottish businesses and property owners

First of all, owners of businesses and properties need to understand who their duty holders are. (We hope that this article has been helpful in that respect.)

Then, make sure you have in a place a suitable and up-to-date fire risk assessment. Ensure that you have in place sufficient fire safety measures – in terms of firefighting equipment, emergency escape routes and evacuation procedures, staff training, and fire detection.

If you charge or store products which contain lithium-ion batteries, take additional precautions.

All of this is business-critical: being the subject of enforcement by the SFRS could create significant legal and reputational risks for any business. Beyond this, one look at the aftermath of the Union Street fire provides a powerful reminder of the importance of robust fire safety management.

For further information, please contact a member of our Health, Safety and Environmental Regulation team.

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