The BBC reported that another huge blaze began at 23:00 BST (Friday, June 15th) and it has engulfed a large portion of the building, four years after part of the building was destroyed by fire in May 23rd, 2014.
Flames ripped through the celebrated Mackintosh building after it caught fire which began at about 11:15pm on Friday. Firefighters were unable to enter the building because of fears its walls might, collapse and the blaze spread to a neighbouring music venue, the O2 ABC.
Its renovated Mackintosh library and the grade-A listed building should reopen next year. However this will be imposible.
More than 120 firefighters and 20 appliances participated to tackle the blaze, Residents said the heat was so intense it could be felt several streets away, with chunks of blazing timber and debris raining down on neighbouring streets.
On a visit to the scene on Saturday, Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said,
the “heartbreaking” fire had been “much, much worse than the one that took hold of the Mackintosh building four years ago – so the damage is severe and extensive. There are assessments and discussions ongoing with the fire service and building control about the structure of it and it’s structural safety. Obviously all of us hope the building can be saved but I think it’s too early to draw any conclusions from that"
The damage to the building’s stonework raises questions about whether the structure will survive this second round of intense heat. In the last fire, the stonework endured temperatures of up to 1,000C and was then cooled down very quickly by water, leaving some of the stone cracked and and too weak to reuse.
The building was designed by the art nouveau architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, whose designs extended to the smallest detail, including its furniture, lamps and glass inlays. Its most famous feature was its library, which housed many rare and archival materials as well as original furniture and fittings, and was gutted by the first fire.
