Fire rips through historic 100-year-old Glasgow café as locals left devastated

A fire has ripped through a historic café in Glasgow leaving locals devastated. Emergency services raced to the iconic Café d'Jaconelli on Maryhill Road after the alarm was raised shortly before 3am on Thursday.

Three fire appliances scrambled to the scene of the early-hours blaze. Thankfully, there were no causalities as a result but the inside of the building was gutted by the blaze.

As reported by Glasgow Live, a harrowing picture taken from outside the premises showed the extent of the damage. A number of items, including tables and chairs, could be seen fire damaged on the pavement.

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The café recently celebrated its 100th anniversary this year and a fundraiser has now been launched to help save the much-loved eatery.

A message on the GoFundMe page read: "I am fundraising to help a café that most people in Maryhill will know and have grown up with.

"In the early hours of Thursday, a fire broke out in this café and destroyed a small family-run business. Any donations no matter how small or big would be greatly appreciated to help this family get their small family business back up and running."

The premises is known by locals and celebrities alike for its iconic red leatherette seats, 1950s-style booths and fittings, fish tank and vintage jukebox. Over the years the café has been hailed for having one of the finest examples of a classic Scots-Italian eatery that Glasgow has to offer.

Filmmakers have also fallen in love with the café, with it being used in numerous movies and TV shows. It shows up in the movie Trainspotting, as the place where Renton and Spud share a milkshake prior to the latter character's infamous job interview scene.

It also appeared in the classic rock and roll drama Tutti Frutti, starring the late Robbie Coltrane, and even an SNP party political broadcast.

Jaconelli's ice cream is also a favourite for Sir Billy Connolly, with the owners reportedly cooking up a special recipe just for the Big Yin whenever he visited.

A spokesperson for the SFRS said: "We were alerted at 2.56am on Thursday, September 12, to reports of a building fire in Glasgow. Operations Control mobilised three fire appliances to the city's Maryhill Road, where firefighters were met by a fire within a ground floor commercial premises. Crews extinguished the fire and worked to make the area safe before leaving the scene. There were no casualties."

The cause of the fire currently remains unknown. Police Scotland were contacted for comment.

To donate to the fundraiser to help save the café, click here.

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