DEVASTATED residents have described their fear as the fierce blaze took control of the corner block late on Sunday evening.

Dozens of locals had to be evacuated from tenement flats on Albert Drive, Kenmure Street and Glenapp Street while emergency services attended the incident.

Only one person was injured during the blaze and was treated for smoke inhalation at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

Now, nearby residents are counting their blessings after the dramatic incident.

Saabirah and Siara Ali were made to evacuate their Glenapp Street flat.

Siara, 26, lived in the top floor of the corner block that caved in until just two years ago.

She said: “My first thought when I saw the fire was ‘oh my goodness, is anyone injured?’ “We heard there was a lady screaming ‘my son, my son’, and today we’ve realised that’ll be the person in hospital with injuries because of the smoke.

“It’s was pretty scary to see.

“I used to live at the top floor of that corner where the fire is and my exact thought was to imagine if I was still living there right now and what could have happened.

“That could’ve been me. That was my room.

“I’m scared for who was living there because I know that if I still was, I’d be petrified.”

Siara and 20-year-old Saabirah resorted to spending much of their time yesterday in their car or at their sisters’ flat to stay warm.

They say they’ve been allowed back into their building, but would likely stay with friends until the electricity was back on because of the cold evenings.

Saabirah was the first in her flat to notice the fire. She said: “We were all sleeping but I had got up to the toilet and that’s when I saw all the smoke coming through into the bathroom.

“I looked into the garden but couldn’t see anything, it was just grey.

“I phoned the fire brigade and they told me to immediately get out the house, so we got the kids and left.

“Then in the morning it got really bad, the houses above the shop just began to crumble as the fire continued. Everyone was just standing around to see what would happen, our whole back garden was on fire.”

Another resident, who lives in the ground floor flat attached to the shop on Kenmure Street says she has no idea when she’ll be allowed back inside.

Waiting in hope at the police cordon across from her home, 39-year-old Nadia Lucchesi told the Evening Times how she even saw firefighters being rescued by their own crew during the night.

She said: “We were fast asleep in bed but were woken to the sound of a kerfuffle up the stairs.

“At that point my husband said he could smell smoke so we opened the blinds at the front.

“It was just white with smoke, you couldn’t see out on to the street at all.”

At that point, Nadia called 999.

She was told to stay put, but within ten minutes had a chap on the door from the fire service telling them to evacuate.

“I’m standing here now in the clothes I left in last night,” she added.

“It was a very quick response and got us all out.”

Nadia and the other residents were taken to the pharmacy across the road as a muster point.

She added: “From there we could see it all.

“The firemen were actually having to be rescued from the top floor. They had the big ladders going up with a torch to get the men out.

“It seemed like they had gone up to check if there was anyone left inside but then they couldn’t get back down, so they needed to use the ladders – it was very dramatic”.

Nadia and her husband were given refuge by a nearby family friend for the night, only realising the full scale of the devastation when they returned this morning.

She added: “I have no idea when we’ll be back in, it looks pretty sound but structurally they’re going to have to do a lot of work to make sure it’s safe, but we’re here – we’re alive.

“It’s miraculous that there’s no serious injuries.”

Another displaced resident, Jonathan Orgill, was meant to be starting a new job today but had to phone his boss and let him know he wouldn’t make it.

The 30-year-old has lived in his Kenmure Street flat for around three years.

Describing the experience, he said: “At one point it seemed like they had the fire under control from the front, but it was clear that from the back of the street it was still going.

“At around half one they told us to evacuate. They were checking everyone was out and made people leave their doors open.

“They were even knocking down people’s doors to make sure everyone got out.”

Jonathan says he didn’t realise “just how bad the fire was” until yesterday morning when the building, just two-doors-down from his flat, collapsed.

By 7pm he was allowed back into his building, with a police exclusion zone set up only at the flats directly connected to the caved-in building.