quickly spread to the roof. At 16:09, Surrey Fire and Rescue Service received an emergency call, and the fire was subsequently attended by a total of 16 fire engines and more than 80 personnel. While fire fighters tackled the blaze, National Trust volunteers were joined by conservators in salvaging furniture and works of art. Items were first stored on the lawns then placed in bubble wrap and sent to a local storage unit. After the fire around 600 "significant items" were rescued. The fire and rescue service remained at the property for a further ten days until the fire had been fully extinguished and then began an investigation into the cause of the fire. A significant number of items were salvaged, but the house was left "essentially a shell" according to Dame Helen Ghosh, director general of the National Trust, with the roof, ceilings and floors having fallen into the basement, leaving just one room intact. One of the footballs kicked across no-man's land on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916 was among the thousands of historic items destroyed, but the six Victoria Crosses thought to have been destroyed were replicas – the originals were held in a bank vault. Although some paintings and furniture were rescued by staff, many tapestries and some items of porcelain were heavily damaged. A large portrait of Richard Onslow, 1st Baron Onslow who was Speaker of the House of Commons in the early 18th century, was saved after being cut from its frame. An official investigation concluded that the fire was probably caused by a fault on an electrical distribution board in the basement. Restoration project In January 2016, the National Trust announced that a number of the principal rooms were going to be restored to the original 18th-century designs, and the "less architecturally significant" upper floors were to be fully modernised for holding exhibitions, events and performances. The cost of the restoration work is being funded by an insurance payout estimated at £65 million. A spokesman for the trust said it would also be asking supporters for donations to cover any shortfall in the budget. Rupert Onslow, the 8th Earl of Onslow who owns and manages Clandon Park (Seat of the Earls of Onslow), whose family were the last private owners of Clandon House, criticised the decision to build "a replica" of the house, saying the money might