A Glasgow firefighter who lost his life in 1972 is being commemorated with a plaque in the city, 50 years on.
Adrian McGill was assisting in the battle against a fire on Maryhill Road on November 18, 1972, attempting to rescue a woman trapped in the building. The blaze had started in a disused wallpaper shop, which spread to the flats above and into a row of tenements on Great Western Road.
A witness statement at the time stated that a ‘massive flashover’ occurred. People were encompassed in black smoke, including on the road outside.
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Fifty families were made homeless by the fire, with 15 fire engines battling to stop the flames. Four other firefighters were injured during the blaze, though Adrian was the only one to lose his life.
Officer McGill gave the woman his oxygen mask, and she was rescued by ladder by other firefighters - though sadly passed away. As for Adrian he succumbed to the effects of smoke inhalation and was rushed into an ambulance, though it was too late.
At the time of Adrian's death, he was married with three children - the youngest being just eight months old. He was the eighth Glasgow firefighter to lose his life in three months, with a period of several fires in the city.
Seven firefighters lost their lives a few months before the Maryhill Road blaze, during a similar disaster in the Kilbirnie Street textile warehouse blaze - and they have also been honoured with plaques, which were unveiled earlier this year. In the 12 years previous to Adrian’s death, 27 firefighters in Glasgow had lost their lives.
Today, a plaque has been unveiled memorialising Adrian. The Fire Brigades Union’s Red Plaque Scheme commemorates firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Mounted on the wall of Maryhill Fire Station, the plaque was revealed today along with a short ceremony. With speeches from Fire Brigade Union officials and the Lord Provost, the event closed at 2.15pm with the laying of wreaths.
Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union General Secretary said: “Firefighters will always do everything they can to save lives. Adrian McGill extended to laying his life down in an attempt to save another.
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“It is so important that what he did is never forgotten. Red Plaques help firefighters to feel connected to those who came before them, and helps them pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the line of duty.
“The Fire Brigades Union is proud and privileged to play a role in making sure that Adrian McGill is remembered.”
Seona Hart, FBU Scotland Regional Treasurer, added: “Adrian McGill made a split-second decision out of care for someone else, a stranger who he had never met before, and a decision which he would have known came with huge risk.
“It is self sacrifice on an almost indescribable scale. There’s a quote that states there is no more stirring symbol of our humanity towards others than a fire engine.
“Adrian McGill and what he did personify that. This plaque will ensure that Glasgow community knows about the sacrifice Adrian McGill made, and it will help Glasgow’s firefighters remember one of their own.”
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