James Watt Street fire

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The James Watt Street fire on Monday, 18 November 1968, was a fatal factory fire in Glasgow, Scotland leading to a large loss of life, with 22 employees killed.^[1] The number of fatalities was a consequence of the building retaining barred windows, a feature remaining from its previous use as a whisky bond. Around 100 firemen from Glasgow Fire Service attended this incident, which reinforced Glasgow's reputation for tragic fires in the 30 years after the Second World War.

Many of these fires resulted from poor building standards, with many premises being modified from their original purpose. Glasgow city centre did not suffer from wartime bombing to the extent of other British cities, and consequently, many industrial premises were still of nineteenth-century origin, and were located in cramped and narrow streets.