Photo: Courtesy of The National Motorcycle Museum.

Following the disastrous fire that ripped through the National Motorcycle Museum on Tuesday evening, it is now thought that at least half of the damaged bikes can be saved.

Speaking to the 24 Hour Museum the morning after the horrific blaze, the National Motorcycle Museum’s Ken Wilson was adamant that the disaster will not mean the end of the institution.

"I think we were more shocked last night, but today the sun’s out and we can roll our sleeves up and start tidying up and getting things sorted out," he said.

"Roy Richards, the owner, is up and running and is determined that we are going to sort things out and quite frankly knowing him as I do, if he says that I am sure it will happen."

While it appears that around 600 motorcycles from the museum’s 900-strong collection have been damaged, Ken explained that only around 70 of them have been lost forever. The rest are salvageable and will be able to undergo a very long period of restoration.

Photo: Courtesy of The National Motorcycle Museum.

"At the moment it is very difficult to say what the state of play is. It is obvious that some of the bikes are melted, but some of them are recoverable given time and money."

Assistant Divisional Officer of the West Midlands Fire Service, Dave Glenis confirmed that a cigarette, discarded near a pile of old air conditioning filters at the side of the museum was the likely cause of it.

"It burned through the eaves and then got through the roof space and it was only when it had taken quite a strong hold that it was discovered." he said

Adding that traffic problems and the lack of a nearby water supply all hampered the rescue attempt, Dave said that although the exhibition halls had burned very quickly he didn’t believe the motorcycles were carrying any petrol.

"If you imagine a motorbike with the foam on the seat, the rubber tyres and all the fixtures and fittings, once they start they burn freely and of course it’s a museum with lots of open space and lots of people, so there’s a lot of oxygen."

Photo: Courtesy of The National Motorcycle Museum.

Michael Penn, Curatorial Director at Haynes Motor Museum in Somerset, explained how institutions that display motor vehicles have to protect their collections without compromising them.

"My staff here are very, very aware that fire, by far and away, is the biggest disaster that could befall this museum," said Michael. "A fire destroys, totally destroys our heritage, our history, everything that everyone has worked so hard for all these years and it’s gone in the blink of an eye."

He made the point that while certain risks are unavoidable if a working motor museum is to carry out its remit, they can be offset by correct staff training and a rigorous safety procedure.

"We are here to display our heritage, make people understand what our engineering forefathers did to change our world completely and you cannot override that. If we can’t do that, due to safety, we couldn’t be here."

Jim Andrew, Collections Advisor at the Birmingham-based Thinktank, which has its own motor collection expressed his astonishment at the sheer speed of the fire.

"I’m amazed at the rate at which the fire took hold," he said, before adding that while there are obvious ways to make vehicles safe, it is often the construction of museum buildings that creates the most risk.

Photo: Courtesy of The National Motorcycle Museum.

"There is the general health and safety that you don't keep petrol in vehicles and you don't keep batteries in, that is the standard vehicle procedure. I'm more concerned about the building."

Jim explained that with a newly-built institution such as Thinktank, the building can be designed to incorporate sprinklers and fire-brakes, while the exhibits can be arranged to aid fire prevention. The issue, he said, is a balancing act for museums, much like weighing up the need for fire exits with the need for security.

"It looks to me like there ought to be lessons that can be learnt from it," he explained. "We need the details of how it spread, whether there was anything that limited the spread and whether anything can be learnt from that."

"There can be positives and negatives, it’s not unusual for a little oasis to be found in the middle of it all and people can say, ‘right that’s how to do it in future’."