Looking at all the scaffolding on the building, a thought just occurred to me. When a job like this is undertaken, why can’t some fire fighting equipment be installed on the scaffolding so IF this happens, water could still be used from a position where humans couldn’t get to due to unsafe conditions. And have them remote controllable so water could be swept over wide swaths. Sort of like a huge version of what’s inside buildings to suppress fire. Might be cost prohibitive but a job of this magnitude should overlook that. Just my .02¢.
It’s not an outlandish idea. Nor an expensive one.
No idea on the construction of the building, I’m willing to bet that much of the interior structure was built out of heavy timer. Once an old heavy timber building catches fire unless it is almost immediately stopped they will end up burning to the ground. No about of water will stop a building like that once it gets going.