Man charged over Glasgow tenement fire sparked by online rumours

What happened on Stoneyhurst Street?

A 48-year-old man has been arrested and charged after a deliberate fire gutted an empty tenement building in the north of Glasgow, following a campaign of online disinformation about the property's future.

Emergency services were called to the building on Stoneyhurst Street, in the Possilpark area, at around 4.50pm on Sunday, 6 September. The fire broke out in a flat on the fourth floor and quickly took hold.

It took a major operation to bring the flames under control. Six fire engines were dispatched to the scene, with crews working through the night and well into the following day to dampen down hotspots and make the structure safe. Police Scotland confirmed that nobody was injured in the incident.

Why was the building targeted?

The building had stood derelict for 20 years, but it had recently secured funding for a complete renovation. The plan was to convert the eyesore into modern, affordable flats.

However, the housing project became the target of intense speculation online. False claims began circulating on social media suggesting that, once refurbished, the building would be used to house asylum seekers.

The rumours sparked local anger and led to two separate protests outside the property, one in July and another in early August. The housing developer, NG Homes, had repeatedly stated that the claims were entirely untrue.

Labour politician Paul Sweeney, who visited the scene on Sunday evening while firefighters were still tackling the blaze, described the situation as "depressing". He emphasised that the flats were never earmarked for anything other than local housing.

"Despite the rumours for what the housing was going to be used for, it was always intended to be used for people on the NG Homes local waiting list," Sweeney said.

What happens next?

The fire has now thrown the future of the regeneration project into doubt, just as it was finally getting underway after two decades of neglect. For residents in Possilpark, a neighbourhood that has long struggled with derelict housing, the loss of these planned homes is a significant setback.

The building on Stoneyhurst Street had been a symbol of urban decay for twenty years, and the funding to restore it was seen as a rare victory for local regeneration. Now, the damage caused by the fire and the subsequent water used to extinguish it will need to be assessed by structural engineers before any decisions can be made on whether the refurbishment can still go ahead.

On Thursday, police announced they had made an arrest. The 48-year-old suspect is expected to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Monday, 14 September.