First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has pledged a thorough investigation will be carried out into last week’s fire at Cameron House Hotel which claimed two lives.

Ms Sturgeon conveyed her deepest condolences to the families of Simon Midgley, 32, and Richard Dyson, 38, both from north London, who died after last Monday’s fire at the luxury, five-star hotel.

Speaking at First Minister’s questions at Holyrood, she said lessons would be learned from the investigation.

She said: “I want, today, to convey my deepest condolences to the families of the two young men who died and send my thoughts to all of those who were affected by this tragedy.

“This horrific event demonstrates once again how our firefighters so willingly put themselves in the line of danger to assist others on a daily basis and I know the whole Chamber will want to send our grateful thanks to our firefighters and to all of our emergency services who responded.

“Of course, there will be a thorough investigation into what happened at Cameron House and it is important that the investigation is allowed to run its course, but I can give an assurance today that the Scottish Government, with our partners and indeed with the owners of Cameron House hotel, will make sure that any lessons that emerge from that investigation are learned and fully applied.”

Also at First Minister’s Questions, a tearful Jackie Baillie MSP paid tribute to Simon and Richard who had been on a sightseeing holiday.

The Dumbarton MSP praised the emergency services as well as the staff at Cameron House who played a critical role in evacuating the building.

Ms Baillie said: “The tragic fire has claimed the lives of two young men who were enjoying a pre-Christmas holiday. My heartfelt condolences, and those of all MSPs, go to the families and friends of Richard Dyson and Simon Midgley.

“People across the world have been touched by the tragedy. Cameron House shares a special place in the hearts of many and families will have fond memories of celebrating weddings together or couples who got engaged on the banks of Loch Lomond.

“The investigation into the causes of the fire cannot begin until the building is made safe and secure for police and fire service workers.

“The safety of the brave men and women in our emergency services must be the priority.

“When the investigation is complete we will also need to ensure that any potential lessons are learned to improve fire safety practice and strengthen building regulations in future.”

Work to make the hotel building safe was continuing this week as investigators tried to establish what had caused the fire.

Dramatic accounts emerged of the evacuation after the alarms sounded, with 200 guests spilling out into the grounds, many still in pyjamas and dressing gowns.

Several told of grabbing what they could and fleeing when they realised the alarms were a real emergency and not a drill.

Among those to escape the flames were Andrew and Louise Logan, and their two year old son Jimmy, from Worcestershire.

A firefighter was pictured carrying the child on a ladder after rescuing him from an upper floor of the burning hotel.

The family were taken to hospital after being brought to safety, but were later discharged.

A statement on the hotel website said: “Due to the events of Monday, December 18, Cameron House Hotel, the Leisure club and the food and beverage areas within the main hotel will remain closed until further notice.

“We would kindly ask all guests and customers to remain patient as we work with the emergency services to establish the extent of the damage and ascertain when we will be able to reopen. More information will follow in due course.”

The extent and scale of the fire shocked communities around the area and many people took to facebook to express condolences.

Tourist groups, hotels, restaurants and business organisations in the area rallied round with offers of help and councillors and politicians expressed shock.

In the days following the fire there was speculation there was no sprinkler system in the hotel, but Cameron House insisted it was “fully compliant with all relevant fire safety regulations and its certification was complete and up to date”.

John Gow, a senior investigator with International Fire Investigators and Consultants (IFIC), told our sister newspaper, The Herald, that it could not yet be argued sprinklers would have saved lives in Cameron House because the full facts of the causes of the fire were not yet available.

He said: “Judging by the scale of the Cameron House fire I made an assumption that it was unlikely that there were sprinklers, because sprinklers are effective in containing fires and containing them to a room or an area of origin, which is their purpose.”