Monday, April 15, 2019

Notre Dame fire


For those of you just joining our coverage of the Notre Dame Cathedral fire, where a major operation is under way to save the historic building, here is a timeline of events courtesy of Reuters.
  • 6:50pm local time (1650 GMT): Fire starts in roof of Notre Dame Cathedral, according to firefighters
  • 7:07pm: A Reuters journalist sees smoke and flames at Notre Dame from a distance.
  • 7:40pm: Fire spreads to the giant spire. The French president cancels planned TV address to the nation to go to the scene.
  • 7:53pm: Cathedral’s spire collapses.
  • 8:07 pm: Entire roof collapses,.
  • 8:25 pm: Île de la Cité, the island on which Notre Dame sits, is evacuated by police.
Updated
Firefighters at the scene have told Reuters that their efforts are being directed towards preventing the collapse of the northern tower and saving the artwork at the back of the cathedral.
The Notre Dame cathedral has been in flames since the beginning of the evening in Paris.
The Notre Dame cathedral has been in flames since the beginning of the evening in Paris. Photograph: Le Pictorium/Barcroft Images
The most senior firefighter in Paris says it is unclear whether they will be able to keep it from spreading and causing more destruction.
“We are not sure we are capable of stopping the spreading” to Notre Dame’s second tower and belfry,” said Jean-Claude Gallet at the scene as his crews worked outside and inside the iconic cathedral. “If it collapses, you can imagine how important the damage will be.”
Flames already have reached one of Notre Dame’s towers and brought down the 96-metre high church spire.
Updated
The Catholic Church in the Holy Land said it was praying that the fire was “not intentional” while expressing solidarity with the church in France.
“We pray that there will be no injuries, for the fire not to be intentional and for least possible damage to the Church,” a statement released in Jerusalem said. “We express our solidarity with (the) Church in France.”
A Vatican spokesman said: “The terrible news of the fire that has devastated the cathedral of Notre Dame, symbol of Christianity in France and in the world, was received in the Holy See with shock and sadness,” a spokesman said in a statement.
“We express our closeness with French Catholics and with the Parisian population. We pray for the firefighters and for all those who are trying their best to tackle this dramatic situation.”
It added that the medieval church was “a symbol of Christianity in France and across the world”.
Updated
The archbishop of Paris Michel Aupetit has tweeted a message to “all the priests of Paris”:
The firefighters are still fighting to save the towers of Notre-Dame de Paris. The frame, the roof and the spire are consumed. Let us pray. If you wish, you can ring the bells of your churches to invite prayer.
Updated
Jon Henley
As night fell, the dull glow of the flames, dampened by jets of water from firefighters’ hoses, continued to flicker across the water on the Île Saint-Louis.
The crowd of onlookers - residents, Parisians and tourists, some hunched over bridge parapets, others standing open-mouthed or sat in shock on cafe terraces overlooking the cathedral, stayed.
Many wondered how the fire could have been allowed to happen. “It’s a national tragedy,” said Paul Rechter, who lives in the Marais, a few hundred metres from Notre Dame. “It’s a symbol of France that is collapsing there, part of our national identity going up in smoke. Part of our history, our culture, our literature ... How on earth could it have happened? Why were there no precautions?”
His wife Agnes said her parents and grandparents had lived on the Île Saint-Louis and the Île de la Cité. “We have known the cathedral since our childhood,” she said. “It’s part of our personal history, too.” She said she thought most of all of “the centuries of work, of craftsmanship, that went into that building ... The number of men who have worked on it down the years.”
People cry and pray as they look at flames burning the roof of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
People cry and pray as they look at flames burning the roof of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Photograph: Yoan Valat/EPA
Pierre Mesnage, 44, has lived on the Île de la Cité for the past 20 years in an apartment that overlooks the cathedral. His wife and children had already gone to stay with friends but, on his way back from work, he had stopped off to survey the extent of the damage.
“I cried when I saw it, honestly,” he said.
“I wept. It’s see that building every single day, all day if I’m at home. It’s a drama. A personal and a national tragedy. I’m a Catholic, too, so there’s an added significance. I really don’t understand how it could happen. This is an emblem of Paris, an emblem of France. Why wasn’t it protected?”
Ruud van der Leij, a computer studies teacher from Rotterdam, said he had been staring at the flames for more than two hours. “You can’t look away,” he said. “It’s awful and fascinating at the same time. A terrible, awful, sad affair. Such a symbol.”
Marina Valleix, 42, said she had come specially from her home in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. “I do treasure hunts with clues, for children, round tha big Paris monuments,” she said. “I’m here more or less every weekend. I had to come and see.”
The disaster “has got to me, definitely”, she said. “I’m confident it will be rebuilt, and I know Notre Dame has already burned, the spire has already fallen in the past. I know we can and will rebuild. But still, it’s sad. To see it like this, it’s terribly sad.”
French firefighters try to extinguish a fire as flames are burning the roof of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
French firefighters try to extinguish a fire as flames are burning the roof of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Photograph: Yoan Valat/EPA
Updated

No guarantee Notre Dame will be saved, authorities say

The French deputy interior minister has said saving Notre Dame “is not certain,” according to AFP.
It follows a similar announcement from French fire services moments before. They said they are “not sure” if the fire can be stopped.
AFP news agency (@AFP)
#BREAKING Saving Notre-Dame "is not certain," says deputy interior minister
April 15, 2019
Updated
Somewhat prophetically, the BBC’s Travel programme reported last week on the repairs the church needed and the “massive costs” that were required in order to restore Notre Dame, before the outbreak of the fire.
Pollution, acid rain and age have taken their toll, the head of the Friends of Notre Dame charity, Michel Picaud said, pointing out dissolved statues and structurally weakened parts of the 13th-century building.
Within 10 years, we could see a complete collapse of the iconic monument, he warned.
The massive cost of saving Notre Dame
This file photo taken on July 14, 2017, shows an aerial view of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
This file photo taken on July 14, 2017, shows an aerial view of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Photograph: Jean-Sébastien Evrard/AFP/Getty Images
Updated
Former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton says she wishes France strength “as they grieve and rebuild”.
Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton)
My heart goes out to Paris. Notre Dame is a symbol of our ability as human beings to unite for a higher purpose—to build breathtaking spaces for worship that no one person could have built on their own. I wish France strength and shared purpose as they grieve and rebuild.
April 15, 2019
Here is the first of what is likely to be many front pages from news organisations around the world, from French paper Le Figaro.
Alexis Brézet (@abrezet)
#NotreDame de la tristesse . La une de @Le_Figaro pic.twitter.com/3z8Ol75O1p
April 15, 2019

Next hour and a half is "crucial" says Paris fire department

A spokesman for the Paris fire department tells Reuters that the next hour and a half is “crucial” in order to see if the fire can be contained.
Hundreds of firefighters are at the scene, with the Paris fire brigade saying they are doing everything they can to bring “the terrible fire” under control.
“All means are being used, except for water-bombing aircrafts which, if used, could lead to the collapse of the entire structure of the cathedral,” it tweeted.
Here is the latest photo we have as night begins to fall:
Firefighters douse flames rising from the roof at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Firefighters douse flames rising from the roof at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. Photograph: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images
Updated
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