Glasgow clothing store fire leaves 13 young women dead

The fire caused the buyers to flee the location (Image: Newsquest)

IT WAS the most devastating fire to ravage Glasgow in more than 40 years.

Thirteen girls and young women between the ages of 15 and 23 died when a vicious blaze overtook Grafton mode shop on Argyle Street, 74 years ago this week, on May 4, 1949.

More than a day later, fire crews and Salvage Corps officers are still at the scene.

Our sister newspaper The Glasgow Herald painted a heartbreaking picture in its May 6 report.

An inspection of the building at 47 Argyle Street yesterday where 13 girls lost their lives in Wednesday’s fire revealed it was charred ruins, the report comments.

The fire raged for hours. (Image: Newsquest)

A firefighter was on duty through the night dousing the embers and during the day Rescue Corps members and workers were busy clearing the debris.

The back of the lot, where the girls were trapped, was open to the sky and workers were pulling down dangerous scorched rafters.

The floor below was covered with burnt remains of clothing, furniture, and documents, and on the ground floor was a model doll in a charred and soaked dress.

The report notes that most of the young women who fled the building have returned to work in companies elsewhere in the city. Some of them went to the scene of the fire and searched for personal belongings left behind.

The paper quoted Pearl Simpson, of Netherlee, as saying: I’d never seen anything like it, I didn’t realize it was so gruesome.

The report continues: One of the girls found her handbag complete but useless. A male staff member found shards of his raincoat

During the day members of the firm – legal name is Graftons (Fashion Specialists) Ltd – visited the scene, some arriving by plane and train from London.

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The report added: Adjacent cinemawhich had to be evacuated, reopened at one o’clock, two hours later than usual, although there was some water damage and the smell of smoke lingered.

The story continues

It also caused chaos on the busy shopping streets around the store, the reporter said.

In the afternoon thousands of people passed through Argyle Street and mounted police had to be called to control the crowd, the report said.

Vehicular traffic was reduced to a slow speed and long lines of trams occasionally formed.

The paper pointed out that the previous worst disaster in Glasgow occurred on November 18, 1905, when 39 people lost their lives and 24 were seriously injured in a fire at a lodging house on Watson Street.

From that tragedy comes a story of extraordinary courage.

Former paratrooper Solomon Winetrobe, who worked at Graftons as a stock records manager, was a hero of the hour.

She won the George Medal, the highest civilian valor award, for her role in helping several women escape to safety.

When the fire broke out, he was trapped on the fourth floor with a number of his female colleagues. The fire was now blocking the stairs, so he knew he had to act fast.

With smoke billowing from the building’s windows, he held on to a drainpipe as he helped them climb out of an upstairs window and crawl along a narrow ledge to the roof of Argyle Street Cinema.

Here, another colleague – George Platt – helps them reach the adjoining rooftop where they are rescued by firefighters.

The window ledge was only 12 centimeters (five inches) wide and more than 15 meters (50 feet) off the ground.

In the street below, passersby who had just hours earlier been shopping and meeting friends, were forced to flee the scene as a vicious blaze broke out.

A fire had been found in the elevator shaft and, when the firefighters arrived, there was so much smoke, they had no idea which side of the road the fire was on.

Crowds of moviegoers from the Argyle film house next door evacuated, adding to the chaos and confusion on the street. It took two hours to bring the blaze under control and apart from the 13 women who died, more than 20 were injured.