Glasgow Central fire

Police unable to trace vape shop owner after devastating Glasgow city centre fire

Police investigating the massive fire that tore through buildings in Glasgow city centre have so far been unable to trace the owner of the vape shop believed to be at the centre of the blaze.

The businessman, known locally only as Arslan, has not yet been located by detectives assisting Scottish Fire and Rescue Service with enquiries into the devastating incident on Union Street.

Officers are keen to speak with him as part of their investigation, but attempts to trace him have so far been unsuccessful.

One local business owner said: “Police want to speak to him to find out more information but have been unable to find him so far.”

It is understood Arslan had only taken over ownership of the vape shop around two weeks before the fire broke out.

He was not present when the blaze began and is said to be deeply distressed by the destruction caused.

Sources say the businessman was reportedly “too upset to talk about it” following the inferno.
Was he was last seen shuffling away from the shop with a noticeable limp that quickly turned into a confident stride ?
 
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Shocking amount of damage done there. People need to be held accountable for this.
 
Anyone hazard a guess at how much money a typical vape shop turns over each month?

I'd imagine a shop like that once stood above costs over £1k pcm in rent, then add business rates, staff costs, business insurance (cough) and other bits; is vaping really that lucrative? Or as many suspect, was it just a launderette in disguise?
 
Anyone hazard a guess at how much money a typical vape shop turns over each month?

I'd imagine a shop like that once stood above costs over £1k pcm in rent, then add business rates, staff costs, business insurance (cough) and other bits; is vaping really that lucrative? Or as many suspect, was it just a launderette in disguise?

It’s a huge, growing industry worth billions, so I’d guess they do alright. Theyve got a smaller product range than something like a grocery store and probably tidy margins. They aren’t all fronts for drug kingpins, despite what the GB News brigade would have you think, just people trying to make a living. Exactly the same as barbers.. it’s all low barrier to entry stuff.

With that said, I wouldn’t mind seeing them banned, horrible things.
 
Anyone hazard a guess at how much money a typical vape shop turns over each month?

I'd imagine a shop like that once stood above costs over £1k pcm in rent, then add business rates, staff costs, business insurance (cough) and other bits; is vaping really that lucrative? Or as many suspect, was it just a launderette in disguise?

The wife of one of the lads who works for me has a 'corner shop', apparently the margins on vapes are massive compared to most of their products.
 
Whilst I am no fan of vape shops I imagine some people would have a melt down if they found out that there used to be tobbaccanists in high street shops, literally stuffed full of flammable produce ;)

It could have also been a phone shop, either a phone repair type shop or a network shop e.g. Three, Vodafone or O2. Whichever way, still full of flammable products (lithium batteries). Similarly, CEX, again full of tech products. Hell, it could have even been a book shop, and you know what books are made of.

The issue here was not only lacking a fire extinguisher, but also lacking other measures such as a sprinkler system that should be a standard in retail.
 
It could have also been a phone shop, either a phone repair type shop or a network shop e.g. Three, Vodafone or O2. Whichever way, still full of flammable products (lithium batteries). Similarly, CEX, again full of tech products. Hell, it could have even been a book shop, and you know what books are made of.

The issue here was not only lacking a fire extinguisher, but also lacking other measures such as a sprinkler system that should be a standard in retail.

Tech products in the places you've listed generally come from reputable manufacturers with safety and quality controls.
Vapes...naaaaaah.

Fire suppression would have done next to nothing vs a lithium fire.
 
Tech products in the places you've listed generally come from reputable manufacturers with safety and quality controls.
Vapes...naaaaaah.

Fire suppression would have done next to nothing vs a lithium fire.

I really don't think people realise just how extreme lithium fires can be in a very, very short period of time.

Here's a clip worth watching for some examples:


Now imagine a shop absolutely filled with batteries like this stacked on top of each other, only with very little quality control and imported from questionable and probably illegal sources, and said shop has zero safety precautions in place.

Add to the fact that using a water fire extinguisher actually makes things worse should one be used.

It's a miracle something like this hasn't happened until now tbh.
 
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We have two in Nantwich, both in historic street settings, one directly opposite a 16th century black and white hotel called the Crown.

The latter shop has been painted bright acid yellow and sticks out like a sore thumb. Luckily most days i pass, it seems to be empty of customers. I may take a recce and maybe mention whether they saw the destruction caused in Glasgow by the vape shop explosion.
;)
 
We have two in Nantwich, both in historic street settings, one directly opposite a 16th century black and white hotel called the Crown.

The latter shop has been painted bright acid yellow and sticks out like a sore thumb. Luckily most days i pass, it seems to be empty of customers. I may take a recce and maybe mention whether they saw the destruction caused in Glasgow by the vape shop explosion.
;)

No customers but I'm sure they report a few hundred products sold daily.

I'm aware of at least 15-20 such shops around Durham and Newcastle that do the same, and as mentioned are in listed buildings or close enough to be a danger.
 
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Literally just seems to have been caused by sheer stupidity with overloading a power strip which you can't really regulate so the only realistic solution is to just restrict the density of batteries which obviously means these businesses are then entirely incapable of existing as they require the density to make money, nobody is about to go to some dinky warehouse out of town to feed their ****** habit.
 
I really don't think people realise just how extreme lithium fires can be in a very, very short period of time.

Here's a clip worth watching for some examples:


Good grief! We all have phones, tablets, laptops and power banks.

The e-scooter one was amusing though as I don't have much sympathy for them as I got ran over by one in 2024, on a pavement may I hasten to add.
 
Good grief! We all have phones, tablets, laptops and power banks.

The e-scooter one was amusing though as I don't have much sympathy for them as I got ran over by one in 2024, on a pavement may I hasten to add.

Absolutely, but the products we own are heavily regulated and have a lot of QC thrown in. It's still worth being safe with them as with any potential fire hazard, but generally you'll be fine.

Vapes do not have that level of QC for the most part, and a lot of these shops stack them to the ceiling in poorly conditioned rooms while operating illegally.

Makes me think of the chip pan fires of many moons ago, only on commercial level for some god forsaken reason. Everyone and their mother knows what these places are and what they're doing, and yet the people that should be blocking or shutting them down turn a blind eye. Now a building that survived both world wars has been destroyed so that a bunch of money laundering criminals could have an easy time of it.
 
We are too soft, these types of places often sell illegal goods as well, they get investigated, get the goods confiscated and a slap on the wrist, should be forced to close with immediate effect.
 
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A dozen or more businesses forced to close, loss of commercial rates, taxes and hefty insurance claims made. All to facilitate illegality and a backhander or two to the local council.

Can almost guarantee the business in question wont have any/suitable insurance.
 
Vapes do not have that level of QC for the most part, and a lot of these shops stack them to the ceiling in poorly conditioned rooms while operating illegally.
You'd be surprised how heavily regulated the vape industry is.
Reputable retailers obviously comply with the regs but, as with any other industry, it's the dodgy pop-up ones operating illegally that are the problem.
 
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