'Someone had to do something': Man left 'traumatised' after attempting to extinguish Glasgow blaze

The man who attempted to extinguish a fire which eventually destroyed a historic block near Glasgow Central Station says he has been left “traumatised”.

Lamin Kongira was walking along Union Street on Sunday afternoon when a shopkeeper began shouting that a fire had broken out at a nearby vape shop.

The 42-year-old chef believed “somebody had to step in” to save the building and went inside, where he saw a fire coming from behind a counter.

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He grabbed an extinguisher from the Subway and made his way into the shop to tackle the blaze.

However, after the first explosion, Lamin, who has lived in Glasgow for 16 years, realised he couldn’t control it.

He then quickly left the store just before the second explosion and urged members of the public to get as far away as possible.

Footage on social media shows him trying to usher people away from the scene as thick smoke billows from the building.

Within hours, the building had been engulfed in flames.

He told STV News: “I wasn’t thinking of myself, to be honest with you, I was thinking of the structure of that building I was in.

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“If I could, I would save it, but unfortunately, my effort was pointless. I’ve done my best now.

“I heard the shopkeeper shouting that there was a fire. I looked and saw a small fire. I asked the shopkeeper if he had a fire extinguisher, but he said no.

“I had to quickly run next door and grab a fire extinguisher from there. When that had run out, we couldn’t do any more.”

More than 200 firefighters have been involved in the incident, with 18 fire engines and a specialist resource deployed to the scene at the height of the blaze.

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Only the facade of the building at the corner of Gordon Street and Union Street has been left standing.

A large number of businesses have been destroyed by the flames. The B-listed building has been an ever-present in Lamin’s life since he arrived in the city back in 2008

Lamin added: “After 15 years, every day I passed this building.

“It’s something that is also part of me living here for 15 good years.

“So this building is part of me. So if I can put my life to save it, like what I did yesterday, I would do it, and that’s what I did yesterday.”