An inquiry into the cause of the fire that destroyed the Glasgow School of Art's Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed building in 2018 has failed to reach a conclusion due to insufficient evidence.
Carried out by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) over three years, the report issued yesterday records the exact cause of the fire as "undetermined".
According to the SFRS, this is the result of the extensive damage to the site caused by the fire, and in turn, the loss of potentially vital evidence.
"We were unable to find sufficient evidence to support any credible origin and it has not been possible to establish a definitive cause," concluded SFRS deputy chief officer Ross Haggart.
"Unfortunately, almost everything within the building was severely damaged or consumed in the fire and that included any potential items of evidence that could have provided those answers." "Hundreds of tonnes" of evidence examined
The Charles Rennie Mackintosh building fire took place on 15 June, as the restoration of the building following an earlier fire in 2014 neared completion.
In the report, it is revealed that fifty per cent of the building was alight within 38 minutes of the firefighters arriving at the site.
The Glasgow School of Art by Charles Rennie Mackintosh was destroyed in a fire. Photo is courtesy of the Glasgow School of Art
More than 120 firefighters were needed to extinguish the blaze, with their operations continuing for 10 days aft...