New report claims 2018 Glasgow School of Art fire was potentially preventable

Date
17 January 2019

The Times has reported that the fire that tore apart the world famous Glasgow School of Art (GSA) back in June 2018 was potentially preventable.

The newspaper claims that a mist suppression system – that had been “97 per cent installed” before the first fire to ravage the Mackintosh building occurred in November 2014 – was removed from the building during the renovation process.

In a report published by The Times today (17 January), experts are quoted as saying “the technology should have been included in the restoration,” as the implementation of such equipment would have been able “to provide a working system to douse the fire” in the A-listed building.

It goes on to state that blueprints drawn up for the rebuilding of one of the city’s most iconic structures show that the aforementioned mist system was originally set to be included, but was removed at a later date.

An unnamed spokesperson for the GSA tells The Times that any discussion over the veracity of a mist suppression system single-handedly stopping the spread of fire is “pure speculation” as currently neither the cause nor source of June’s blaze is known.

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Josh Baines

Josh Baines joined It's Nice That from July 2018 to July 2019 as News Editor, covering new high-profile projects, awards announcements, and everything else in between.

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