{"id":794834,"date":"2019-04-15T17:44:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T23:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/firefighters-battle-blaze-at-notre-dame-cathedral\/"},"modified":"2019-04-15T17:44:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-15T23:44:00","slug":"firefighters-battle-blaze-at-notre-dame-cathedral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/firefighters-battle-blaze-at-notre-dame-cathedral\/","title":{"rendered":"Firefighters battle blaze at Notre Dame Cathedral"},"content":{"rendered":"
Flames and smoke rise from Notre Dame cathedral as it burns in Paris, Monday. Massive plumes of yellow brown smoke is filling the air above Notre Dame Cathedral and ash is falling on tourists and others around the island that marks the center of Paris.<\/strong>
Thibault Camus \/ AP | AP<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PARIS \u2014 A massive fire engulfed the upper reaches of Paris\u2019 soaring Notre Dame Cathedral as it was undergoing renovations Monday, threatening one of the greatest architectural treasures of the Western world as tourists and Parisians looked on aghast from the streets below.<\/p>\n

The blaze collapsed the cathedral\u2019s spire and spread to one of its landmark rectangular towers, but Paris fire chief Jean-Claude Gallet said the church\u2019s structure had been saved after firefighters managed to stop the fire spreading to the northern belfry. The 12th-century cathedral is home to incalculable works of art and is one of the world\u2019s most famous tourist attractions, immortalized by Victor Hugo\u2019s 1831 novel \u201cThe Hunchback of Notre Dame.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exact cause of the blaze was not known, but French media quoted the Paris fire brigade as saying the fire is \u201cpotentially linked\u201d to a $6.8 million renovation project on the church\u2019s spire and its 250 tons of lead. The Paris prosecutors\u2019 office ruled out arson and possible terror-related motives, and said it was treating it as an accident.<\/p>\n

As the spire fell, the sky lit up orange and flames shot out of the roof behind the nave of the cathedral, among the most visited landmarks in the world. Hundreds of people lined up bridges around the island that houses the church, watching in shock as acrid smoke rose in plumes. Speaking alongside junior Interior minister Laurent Nunez late Monday, police chief Jean-Claude Gallet said \u201ctwo thirds of the roofing has been ravaged.\u201d Gallet said firefighters would keep working overnight to cool down the building.<\/p>\n

Late Monday, signs pointed to the fire nearing an end as lights could be seen through the windows moving around the front of the cathedral, apparently investigators inspecting the scene. Remarkably, only one of the about 400 firefighters who battled the blaze was injured, officials said.<\/p>\n

The fire came less than a week before Easter amid Holy Week commemorations. As the cathedral burned, Parisians gathered to pray and sing hymns outside the church of Saint Julien Les Pauvres across the river from Notre Dame while the flames lit the sky behind them. Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit invited priests across France to ring church bells in a call for prayers.<\/p>\n

French President Emmanuel Macron was treating the fire as a national emergency, rushing to the scene and straight into meetings at the Paris police headquarters nearby. He pledged to rebuild the church and said he would seek international help to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe worse has been avoided although the battle is not yet totally won,\u201d the president said, adding that he would launch a national funding campaign on Tuesday and call on the world\u2019s \u201cgreatest talents\u201d to help rebuild the monument.<\/p>\n

Built in the 12th and 13th centuries, Notre Dame is the most famous of the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages as well as one of the most beloved structures in the world. Situated on the Ile de la Cite, an island in the Seine River, its architecture is famous for, among other things, its many gargoyles and its iconic flying buttresses.<\/p>\n

Among the most celebrated artworks inside are its three stained-glass rose windows, placed high up on the west, north and south faces of the cathedral. Its priceless treasures also include a Catholic relic, the crown of thorns, which is only occasionally displayed, including on Fridays during Lent.<\/p>\n

French historian Camille Pascal told BFM broadcast channel the blaze marked \u201cthe destruction of invaluable heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been 800 years that the Cathedral watches over Paris,\u201d Pascal said. \u201cHappy and unfortunate events for centuries have been marked by the bells of Notre Dame.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe can be only horrified by what we see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said in a Twitter message that Paris firefighters were still trying to limit the fire and urged Paris citizens to respect the security perimeter that has been set around the cathedral.<\/p>\n

Hidalgo said Paris authorities are in touch with the Paris diocese.<\/p>\n

Reactions from around the world came swiftly including from the Vatican, which released a statement expressing shock and sadness for the \u201cterrible fire that has devastated the Cathedral of Notre Dame, symbol of Christianity in France and in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Washington, Trump tweeted: \u201cSo horrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris\u201d and suggested first responders use \u201cflying water tankers\u201d to put it out.<\/p>\n

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, said he was praying \u201cto ask the intercession of Notre Dame, our Lady, for the Cathedral at the heart of Paris, and of civilization, now in flames! God preserve this splendid house of prayer, and protect those battling the blaze.\u201d<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Elaine Ganley and Sylvie Corbet contributed.<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Flames and smoke rise from Notre Dame cathedral as it burns in Paris, Monday. Massive plumes of yellow brown smoke is filling the air above Notre Dame Cathedral and ash is falling on tourists and others around the island that marks the center of Paris.Thibault Camus \/ AP | AP PARIS \u2014 A massive fire […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-794834","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-20 21:33:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794834\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}