Firefighters who tackled the Glasgow School of Art have told of battling a “volcano” blaze which left some on their hands and knees, taking days to recover from the sapping heat.
Ewen Macsween, whose bravery during inferno was hailed around the world, said the heat was overwhelming.
Mr Macsween, 42, was seen getting as close to the fire as possible in dramatic scenes as the GSA’s Mackintosh building burned.
He was paired up with with Barry Wood, 43, in a team that pumped thousands of gallons of water into the burning landmark from a 60ft platform.
READ MORE: Revealed: the missing safety checks at ravaged Glasgow School of Art fire
Their crew from Springburn fire station first thought they were racing to a false alarm when they got the call a week ago on Friday around 11.30.
Mr Macsween said it was the toughest in his 13-year career.
The firefighters told how the flames surged so high that they were forced to retreat on their aerial rescue platform.
It took them days to recover from a gruelling ten-hour shift at the ferocious blaze, the Sunday Mail reported.
Mr Macsween, from Skye, said: “We all thought there was a mistake when we were told it was the School of Art.
“But when we made our way there, the skyline was lit up. It was incredible.
“It’s the hottest temperatures I’ve ever experienced.
"It felt like we were battling a volcano."
READ MORE: Revealed: the missing safety checks at ravaged Glasgow School of Art fire
He said: "We could only spend a maximum of 30 minutes in the cage. The heat was so intense.
“There was a lot of explosions and the fire was burning. What you’re hearing is like a roar.”
About 120 firefighters fought the flames in the second blaze to hit the Mackintosh building since 2014, destroying £35million of repairs and gutting the rest of the building.
Mr Wood said: “We knew it was the School of Art but we thought, ‘This can’t be right’.
“It’s unique being in a cage above a fire. Sometimes there were surges and we had to back away
“The intensity was quite something.
“There were things crashing and falling. We were at maximum height and maximum outreach.
“We were as close as we could be because the appliances would have melted.
“It was an incredible effort. There were 120 men and by the end some were virtually on their hands and knees.
“They were black, filthy and soaking.”
READ MORE: Revealed: the missing safety checks at ravaged Glasgow School of Art fire
Mr Macsween, the first to climb into one of six aerial platforms deployed to help, said: “We knew in a building that size, if the blaze is through the roof, you need to get above it and get a high volume of water on it to contain it.
“That sort of temperature saps you.
“The heat meant you had to turn your face away and put your visor down.
“I’ve never felt anything like it.
“For a long time you feel hot but all of a sudden it changes and you feel as if you’re on fire.
“That’s the time you get back and get some cool air around you.
“But you can’t stop or it will flare up again.
“At the height of the fire, you didn’t know how much water was evaporating before it even got to the fire.
“It takes you a few days to get over it.”
The pair finished their shift with a traditional cup of tea.
Mr Wood added: “Everyone is sad about the building but from our point of view, no one died so you can take a bit of comfort.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here