Tom Wood

Tom Wood contrasts Edinburgh’s slow and fragmented response to the fire that gutted the former Debenhams building on Princes Street with the city’s rapid recovery after a major German bombing raid in 1940. He criticizes the prolonged closure of Princes Street and the interruption of the tram route to Leith, arguing that unclear leadership and poor coordination have worsened the disruption. By comparison, wartime air-raid preparations enabled firefighters, salvage crews and city authorities to restore Edinburgh’s main routes quickly after extensive damage, with no fatalities.