‘Let’s just run’ – Hairdresser tells of fleeing building which went up in flames

A hairdresser has described the terrifying moment he, his partner and a client fled the building which went up in flames next to the Central Station in Glasgow.

Joe Diaz said the trio decided to “run and get out of here” when they started seeing thick smoke spreading.

The 33-year-old’s hair salon on Union Street was completely destroyed in the blaze on Sunday.

The fire started in a vape shop before spreading to the rest of the building and leading to its partial collapse.

Mr Diaz’s hair salon was one of a number of businesses which have lost their premises, with others are behind cordons which have been put in place by the emergency services.

His business was not insured and he is raising money online towards setting up a new salon.

He told the Press Association that he, his partner and the client, fled about 10 minutes after the fire began, saying: “We were right at the edge of getting out of there in time.”

He said: “The first floor was fully covered in smoke. That was really scary.”

As they moved down through the building, they saw “really heavy, dark smoke”.

He said: “We just got our client and said, let’s just run and get out of here as soon as we can.”

The client was “paralysed by anxiety”, he said, but they made it out of the building and saw smoke pouring out of the vape shop.

Initially, the fire appeared to be contained and Mr Diaz left to get a cup of tea, but when he returned, he was confronted with a “heartbreaking” scene as the flames had spread and the building was collapsing.

He said: “It was heartbreaking. Of course, it’s your business, you have a lot of business stuff.

“But you take very emotional stuff with you to work – things that have a lot of sentimental value.”

Mr Diaz, who is originally from Chile, has set up a crowdfunder on GoFundMe, asking for help to “rebuild our little studio after the fire”.

It said: “As many of you may already know, our little studio has burned down, taking with it five years of dreams, hard work, and love.

“We all sometimes think about the three things we’d grab in an emergency but, in a moment like this, you realise none of that really matters.

“Everything happened so quickly. By pure chance, I happened to be on the phone looking out into the street when I saw the smoke starting to rise.

“Otherwise, we would have been inside the studio with the door closed, just as we usually are. It’s impossible not to think about what could have happened.”