A BLAZE which ripped through a former geriatric hospital is believed to have been started deliberately.

Fire crews were called to Blawarthill Hospital when the alarm was raised at 4.30am today.

They found flames shooting into the sky and a large cloud of black smoke billowing over nearby rooftops.

Thirty firefighters tackled the fire in the derelict building which was due to be demolished.

Part of the building collapsed when crews were at the scene but nobody was injured.

Glasgow Times:

By morning rush hour, the fire had been put out but two teams of fire officers were still on site dampening down the debris.

A spokesman for Scottish Fire and Rescue said: “The interior of the building partially collapsed and we have informed the city council’s building control officers who will inspect it.”

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is in the process of selling the hospital site to the city council. A health board spokesman said the fire had started in a glass extension to the hospital which was build in the 1970s.

A demolition crew arrived on site recently to clear the hospital site before it is transferred to the city council.

The local authority plans to build a 120-bed care home on the site on Holehouse Road, Knightswood.

It is part of an £80 million plan to build five care homes across the city which will accommodate 600 elderly people. The package will also include the construction of four day-care centres.

Blawarthill Hospital opened as the Renfrew and Clydebank Joint Hospital in 1897.

Glasgow Times:

It was an infectious diseases hospital until 1951 when tuberculosis and other specialities were added.

In 1967, Blawarthill was turned into a geriatric hospital and became part of the National Health Service in 1948.