Nocturnal 
Residents on Glasgow’s southside were jolted awake overnight after a “loud explosion” was reported alongside a van fire on St Edmund Court. Emergency crews were scrambled to the scene at 2.36am on Friday 9 October, as first reported by Glasgow Live.
One fire appliance was sent out by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) after the alert came in. Crews confirmed there were no casualties, and the area was made safe by 3.48am, meaning the whole incident was over within little more than an hour.
Photos shared with Glasgow Live showed the fire appliance’s blue lights cutting through the dark, with what appeared to be smoke drifting through the surrounding streets.
‘Bang like a bomb going off’
Locals described hearing a sudden, loud bang in the early hours, with one comparing the noise to “a bomb going off”, according to Glasgow Live. It’s a reaction commonly reported when vehicle fires cause tyres, fuel tanks or gas canisters to rupture under heat, producing a loud crack or bang that can sound far more dramatic than the blaze itself.
A SFRS spokesperson confirmed the details of the response, saying: “We were alerted at 2.36am on Friday, 9 October, to reports of a fire affecting a van on St Edmund Court, Glasgow. Operations Control mobilised one fire appliance to the scene. There were no casualties and crews left the scene at 3.48am after ensuring the area was made safe.”
Why it matters
It’s the latest in a run of vehicle fires in Glasgow that have startled residents with loud bangs rather than large-scale damage or injury. Earlier in the week, firefighters were called out after reports of an “explosion” near the M8 motorway, when a road marking lorry caught fire and went up in flames in the Cowcaddens area on Tuesday evening, as reported by The Herald. That blaze was tackled by three fire appliances and crews worked until around 1.30am to put it out, with no injuries reported. It’s believed the heat guns used by road marking vehicles to treat paint may have been behind that fire.
While the St Edmund Court incident appears to have been swiftly and safely resolved, the loud bangs associated with both fires show how alarming a vehicle blaze can sound to nearby residents, even when the fire service response is relatively brief.
Separately, Glasgow has also seen reports of another, larger blaze overnight, with social media users and some outlets describing “explosions” and a reddened sky above a scrapyard on South Street in the early hours of Saturday. Details of that incident remain unconfirmed and it is not understood to be connected to the St Edmund Court van fire.
What happens now
SFRS has not indicated any ongoing risk linked to the St Edmund Court fire, and no further details on the cause of the van blaze have been released. As with any fire involving a vehicle, the exact cause will likely only become clear following any follow-up investigation, though none has been announced at this stage.
