Art School Fire 10 years on
It is 10 years since the first fire at the Glasgow School of Art.
2014 was supposed to be Glasgow's big year.
The opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games was a matter of weeks away and the Indyref in the autumn brought a lot of international attention and news crews to the city.
The new Reid building had just been completed and was officially opened. The Art School put letters through our doors informing residents that there was going to be a small firework display to mark this milestone.
It was both an apology for disturbance and an invitation to come and watch.
The firework display took place on the 9th of April and all seemed well.
Until a few days later when they started removing and replacing some of the green glass panels that clad the new building.
The Reid building has spent about 90% of its lifetime covered in scaffolding and probably always will.
On the morning on the 23rd of May 2014 I saw a tweet from someone I knew who lived in the flats down the hill. They said they could see smoke coming from the Art School. I went out to have a look and saw a couple of fire engines parked on Renfrew St and a lot of smoke coming out of the lower windows on Scott St. It didn't look good but it also looked under control.
The fire was started by someone using expanding foam near a projector.
The foam hit the hot lights and ignited. This happened in one of the basement studios. The fire brigade were called and were on the scene in a matter of minutes.
The trouble with the Mackintosh building is that it had all sorts of shafts and vents that ran through the building from floor to floor.
The fire got into these and quickly spread to the upper floors and the roof. Then it took hold of the library. Many decades of spilled paint, linseed oils and antique hardwoods proving a perfect thing to fuel a fire.
The other trouble with the Mack building was that the fire suppression system was not active. Which even to this day I still find absolutely insane. Even more so with the second fire.
Over the next couple of hours you could see this becoming a larger and more serious event. More and more fire appliances appeared. The road cordons got bigger. We watched as the windows on Renfrew Street burst and the flames shot out.
On Sauchiehall Street there were large crowds gathering. I spotted my neighbours amongst them. This day was quite windy. It blew and fanned the flames and circulated smoke and dust into the crowd. Almost as if the weather was trying to make the fire hotter.
The TV news crews had all appeared by this point and I stood next to Glasgow City Council leader Gordon Mathieson as he was being asked for a statement.
I always wondered about the optics of standing in front of a burning building. He was the councillor for the City Centre ward so probably felt a duty to show up. Even though no fault or blame could be laid at his door.
It's not a good look.
Gradually as the hours went by the crowds went home until all that was left was the Garnethill Residents.
This was an entirely avoidable episode and the really annoying thing is that lessons weren't learned.
The fact it happened again almost exactly 4 years later is outrageous. It's odd that it happened right before the next major sporting event the city was hosting. This time the European Championships of 2018.
I witnessed the build up to the second fire and gave evidence to the lawyers.
But why didn't the inquiry come and knock on my door?
In the aftermath in recognition of the bravery and professionalism of the Fire Brigade a thank you was hung around the neck of the firefighter statue at Central Station.
Also I want you to never ever forget how the residents were treated after the second fire.
Kicked out of their homes and moved around for months and months.
None of these things should ever be allowed to happen again.
The second fire robbed us of the ABC. It was one of the best venues in Scotland. Second only to the Barrowlands in my opinion.
I did so many things there. Paid jobs too.
It was an important venue for me and for many others and since losing it Sauchiehall Street has suffered.
It would bring a different crowd into the area multiple times a week. Those people would spend time and money in the neighbouring bars or food places before and after their shows.
When this place went so did the crowds. Leaving behind only a student mono culture.
There are various plans, schemes and discussions of how to regenerate the Sauchiehall district.
Yet they miss the obvious thing. Losing the ABC killed the area and continues to kill it.
If I was in charge I’d take all the money earmarked for building cycle lanes and planting trees and spend it on rebuilding the ABC.