On 23 May 2014 a fire broke out in Glasgow School of Art’s A-listed Mackintosh Building. This building was also home to the School’s Archives and Collections Centre and its heritage collections. These included archives, textiles, paintings, and object collections which were housed in four dedicated storerooms, plus a large number of plaster casts and examples of Mackintosh Furniture that were located throughout the building. The day of the fire, and the weeks immediately after this event were an incredibly busy, emotional, and important time for all of GSA’s staff and students. For the Archives and Collections service and for the Library team members, they comprised the assessment, where feasible the removal, and the initial stabilisation of our holdings, a task hugely aided by input from an army of volunteers. This article provides a timeline of events, describing what actions were taken and the experiences of those involved. It also outlines the different challenges related to dealing with this event, the lessons learnt from these challenges and the potential activities that will take place as part of GSA’s longer-term recovery plans.