'You would think it would never happen again'

The Glasgow School of Art fire - the second major blaze at the internationally-renowned building in the past four years - has created headlines around the world. For the people of Glasgow, it has come as a great, sad shock.

I first arrived on the scene on Saturday morning and walked along Sauchiehall Street, an area of the city synonymous with a good night out. Pubs, restaurants, nightclubs, music venues, and the scene of yet another devastating blaze.

The words I heard as I walked around the police cordon time and time again were "so sad".

Sad that the School of Art has been gutted again.

Sad that one of Glasgow's gems, from my amateur eye, looks like it may never recover.

People stopped in the streets, standing in the heavy rain, and looked at the building as smoke still billowed into the street filling the air with an acrid taste.

Stephen Burke is masters painting student at the School of Art

Stephen Burke, a masters painting student at the School of Art who is originally from Dublin, was one of those looking on.

"When I first came to Glasgow, you could almost see that people from the GSA had post traumatic stress from the previous fire," he said. "To see something like this only four or five years later is really tragic.

"The amount of money, time, work that has went into the renovation - and for this to happen - is madness."

Another Glasgow School of Art student Catherine McCartney stood under a tree to shelter from the rain. She stared at the smouldering building in front of her with sadness etched all over her face.

'Complete disbelief'

Catherine was at School of Art when it caught fire four years ago. She graduated from the GSA yesterday from her architecture course, and was celebrating with friends in the nearby CCA when she first heard about last night's blaze.

"All the restoration work was fantastic, and it has all gone again," she said. "It's really, really sad. My friends and I were in complete disbelief."

As the day went on, the media assembled at Douglas Street at its junction with Bath Street, with the smoke of the fire billowing into the air in the background providing good pictures for TV cameramen and photographers.

Many camera phones were out, as people Tweeted, Facebooked and Instagrammed the scene.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the fire service, and Glasgow City council leader Susan Aitken were among those to speak. The efforts of the emergency services were praised, and the fact there were no casualties was highlighted.

Members of the public also stopped here to take in another sad day for the city.

Tony Waterston, from Bishopbriggs, was one of them. "To see it happen to such an important landmark in the city is just really shocking," he said. "It is part of the culture of Glasgow. There is a lot of good Glasgow culture, this is one that will be lost now."

'Tinderbox city'

Civil servant Pip Bolam moved to Glasgow when the first Glasgow School of Art fire happened. She recently visited the Kelvingrove Art Gallery to see the exhibition on Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the man behind the School of Art design. This month marks the 150th anniversary of his birth.

"To see it all happen again is tragic," she said. "They had made so much progress to get it back to how it was.

"You would think it would never happen again. I would love it for it to be able to recover. It is very, very sad for Glasgow."

Of course, the School of Art was not the only building affected. The future of the O2 ABC, a very popular venue in the city, and the Campus pub and club are also in question.

Meanwhile, the nearby Pavilion Theatre is still recovering from a major fire at the neighbouring Victoria's nightclub in March.

Glasgow - dubbed the Tinderbox city decades ago for the regularity of serious blazes - is once again counting the cost.

Questions remain. How did it happen? Will the School of Art be able to rise from the ashes this time?