DOZENS of firefighters were still at the scene of the massive blaze at the Glasgow School of Art yesterday, as their union paid tribute to everyone affected.

The famous Charles Rennie Mackintosh building was engulfed in flames just as work was finishing to restore it from a fire in 2014.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said a few pockets of fire remained at the site of the blaze yesterday and thermal imaging cameras were being used to identify hot spots. The popular O2 ABC music venue was also caught up in the inferno, which is thought to have caused no deaths or serious injuries.

The building was undergoing a multimillion-pound restoration project to return it to its former glory.

The SFRS said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire, which broke out on Friday night. But there have been calls for a public inquiry into the latest blaze, amid claims that a sprinkler system in the building was not yet operational.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “The Scottish government stands ready to do anything we reasonably can to help ensure that the building has a future.”

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: “Hard questions will be asked as to why and how the Mackintosh building has now suffered two serious fires within four years. In the meantime we can be relieved that there appears to have been no serious casualties.”

The Scottish division of the Fire Brigades Union said in a statement that, because of their efforts to save the School of Art in the previous blaze, members had “an emotional connection with this building and will all be feeling a great sense of loss” at the disaster.

Conrad Landin is the Morning Star’s Scotland editor.