Firefighters could not save Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s masterpiece. It was the second blaze in four years in the building, which had no working fire suppression system

Students celebrating graduation were alerted to the fire that devastated Glasgow School of Art when they smelt smoke and did not respond to the sound of an alarm, it can be revealed.

A report from the GSA Student Association supports other accounts of the fire, suggesting flames spread inside the Mackintosh building for at least at hour before fire crews were called.

Harriet Gould, the student president, was in the association building opposite on graduation night in June. She reported: “Our duty management, security team and I discovered the fire to the Mackintosh building after smelling it from our building. We liaised with the Reid janitors, called the fire emergency services and . . . soon after we evacuated our building.”

The alarm was