A SOUTHSIDE Victorian tenement building that was damaged in a fatal fire has been restored. 

The buildings, on McCulloch Street and Lincluden Path in East Pollokshields, were damaged in the blaze more than three years ago. 

On the afternoon of June 1, 2021, residents were evacuated from their homes when the alarm was raised after Junaid Saddiqui started a fire in his flat in a bid to get a move. 

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(Image: Mark F Gibson / Gibson Digital)

He then fled the building without getting help when the blaze got out of his control. 

For several hours, firefighters tackled the dramatic blaze that left 15 families displaced. 

Saddiqui's neighbour Rahul Thakur, 48, sadly died after suffering from fatal smoke inhalation.

Rahul Thakur (Image: Archive)

Picture taken during the fire (Image: Newsquest)

Now, 14 homes at 144 to 146 McCulloch Street and 12 Lincluden Path have been restored as well as undergoing internal refurbishment and thermal upgrades.

Niall Murphy, director of Glasgow City Heritage Trust, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was "pleased" to see the restoration work was complete. 

He said: "I’m pleased to see that the fire damaged tenement on McCulloch Street in East Pollokshields has now been restored.

"East Pollokshields was the first tenement conservation area in Scotland but sadly three tenements have been destroyed by fire since 2019."

A sign around the building site from Southside Housing Association and Lochlie Construction Group reads: "Reinstatement and internal upgrades of fire damaged properties at 144-146 McCulloch Street and 12 Lincluden Path. 

"Delivered by Southside Housing Association, the works to the 14 homes include reinstatement and repair works from the fire damage alongside thermal upgrades and internal refurbishment."

The East Pollokshields conservation area is defined by Shields Road and the Cathcart Outer-Inner railway line to the west, McCulloch Street and St Andrews Rock to the north, Darnley Street and the rear of Victoria Garden Allotments along the boundary of the Bowling Green to the east and Fotheringay Lane and Kirkaldy Road to the south.

READ NEXT: 'Everything was destroyed': Pollokshields woman tells of fatal flat fire horror

(Image: Mark F Gibson / Gibson Digital)

The two conservations areas of Pollokshields (east and west) were designated in 1973 following the preliminary report on conservation in Glasgow by Lord Esher, the President of the British Institute of Architects, in which he wrote: "Glasgow has a remarkable wealth of good architecture, very largely of the 19th century mainly concentrated in the beautiful inner suburbs.

"Glasgow is now the finest surviving example of a great Victorian city….. Fortunately not too late we realise that a great many Victorian houses in their old settings….. are built with more craftsmanship that we can hope to emulate, or than the world is likely ever to see again……

"The problem is to safeguard this investment….No middle to late Victorian garden suburb as extensive as (Pollokshields) has been designated elsewhere’."