Glasgow Hydro fire: Blaze caused by welding sparks

The fire at Glasgow's new Hydro arena was caused by sparks from welding on the roof, it has emerged.

The fire quickly took hold on Saturday afternoon causing damage to the roof and smoke damage inside the building.

It is not yet known how much damage was caused by the water used to extinguish the blaze.

The SECC, which will manage the Hydro, said it would take about a week to assess whether the building programme would be able to run on schedule.

Dozens of firefighters were called to the scene of the £125m construction site at about 15:20 on Saturday and a high reach ladder was used to tackle the blaze.

Burning debris

Smoke and flames were seen coming from the edge of the domed roof and burning debris was dropping from the building.

The 12,000 seat arena had been scheduled to open in September, with a performance by Rod Stewart.

After the fire the building was carefully examined to make sure it was safe.

Construction work to cover the roof of arena has been taking place over the past several weeks.

John Sharkey, chief executive of the SECC, said he did not want to be too optimistic or too pessimistic about the prospects of it opening on time but urged customers to continue buying tickets.

He said if there were any delays events would be rescheduled and if there were cancellations customers would be entitled to a refund.