Notre-Dame de Paris is on fire and burning to the ground

**Roma_Victrix** · April 15, 2019, 01:25 PM

Anyone paying attention to the news at all? I don't think this belongs in the Mudpit, but we have to talk about it somewhere. It's just awful. The cathedral has been standing there since the 12th century AD, a place where the kings of France (and some of England) were crowned and where Napoleon Bonaparte's coronation as emperor took place in 1804. The entire central spire has already collapsed due to the fire. Hopefully the bell towers and other stone elements like the buttresses can be saved from destruction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_N..._de_Paris_fire

It's just devastating.

Glad I was able to see it and go inside as a visitor a few years ago.

**Aexodus** · April 15, 2019, 02:36 PM

4 churches including the Lady have been set on fire in 2 months and more have been attacked recently. I wonder is this a pattern.

https://www.newsweek.com/spate-attac...statue-1370800

https://twitter.com/PardesSeleh/stat...457725952?s=20

**isa0005** · April 15, 2019, 02:55 PM

My heart-felt sympathies to any Parisians and French citizens here on the TWC, this is devastating news!
I was lucky enough to see in person when I was a teenager, but not so much that I was able to go inside.

**Roma_Victrix** · April 15, 2019, 03:01 PM

Originally Posted by Aexodus

4 churches including the Lady have been set on fire in 2 months and more have been attacked recently. I wonder is this a pattern.

https://www.newsweek.com/spate-attac...statue-1370800

https://twitter.com/PardesSeleh/stat...457725952?s=20

I think they are unrelated to recent acts of arson. News outlets are saying that it was related to the renovation and construction work they were doing on the spire, after having temporarily removed the bronze sculptures from it (thank God). You can still see the giant scaffolding work of the construction crews over the church as it burns. It was probably some dumb welder who made a terrible mistake.

**caratacus** · April 15, 2019, 03:14 PM

The cause of the fire isn't established yet, but the damage to the roof structure is very extensive. A terrible sight and one many people, French or not, will be very upset to see.

Apparently though the structure has been crumbling through years of neglect and was in danger of collapse anyway without urgent repairs. Quite why it got to this state is a disgrace given the amount of visitors it receives as well as being an iconic building of the Nation's capitol. Perhaps through this horrendous event, its might galvanise the French government more to help its restoration instead of depending on foreign contributions.

The Notre-Dame Cathedral is falling apart — and the U.S. is fixing it
By Margot Tiounine Aug 6, 2018
https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/...s-is-fixing-it

The Notre-Dame de Paris survived 850 years of war and revolution to become the second-most visited site in France after the Eiffel Tower. But bureaucratic inefficiency may pose the most existential threat yet toward the now-crumbling building.
The current conditions are the result of decades of neglect and decay, due in part to an awkward arrangement between church and state, making it unclear who bears responsibility for the building's upkeep.
Now the monument, which welcomes over 12 million visitors each year, needs an urgent structural overhaul that could cost more than $185 million. And with no one in France leading the charge to raise it, the Archdiocese of Paris has turned towards an old ally: the United States.

“The condition of the cathedral, especially under the effect of pollution in the last decades, has strongly deteriorated,” said Michel Picaud, a Parisian-born engineer and archaeologist who is leading the fundraiser. “We have decided to finance this program of restoration with private funds."
Part of that effort includes the formation of two foundations, one in France and one in the U.S., where more than two thousand donors have already contributed about a quarter of the $185 million goal.

**Roma_Victrix** · April 15, 2019, 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by caratacus

The cause of the fire isn't established yet, but the damage to the roof structure is very extensive. A terrible sight and one many people, French or not, will be very upset to see.

Apparently though the structure has been crumbling through years of neglect and was in danger of collapse anyway without urgent repairs. Quite why it got to this state is a disgrace given the amount of visitors it receives as well as being an iconic building of the Nation's capitol. Perhaps through this horrendous event, its might galvanise the French government more to help its restoration instead of depending on foreign contributions.

Yeah, that was not a very good situation beforehand, but I think this event will at the very least spur enormous donations for reconstruction and renovations.

The one saving grace out of this travesty will be that much of the original medieval masonry and stone edifice will still survive, including the bell towers, large segments of the walls, and flying buttresses. There is a danger, though, that exposing them to too much water could cause the stone to crack and then crumble, collapsing the structures. That's why you didn't see them air-dropping water from helicopters like you would in a forest fire.

**Morticia Iunia Bruti** · April 15, 2019, 03:29 PM

That's why you didn't see them air-dropping water from helicopters like you would in a forest fire.

Was only the stupid idea of the new, self declared Fire Department Chief of the US...

My thoughts and best wishes are with the people of France.

**caratacus** · April 15, 2019, 03:36 PM

Originally Posted by Roma_Victrix

Yeah, that was not a very good situation beforehand, but I think this event will at the very least spur enormous donations for reconstruction and renovations.

The one saving grace out of this travesty will be that much of the original medieval masonry and stone edifice will still survive, including the bell towers, large segments of the walls, and flying buttresses. There is a danger, though, that exposing them to too much water could cause the stone to crack and then crumble, collapsing the structures. That's why you didn't see them air-dropping water from helicopters like you would in a forest fire.

Wondered why water was not being dropped from above.

I'm sure this building will be rebuilt. Yes, so much of the original fabric of the building is destroyed, which is sickening, but it will be rebuilt as it was. However it will cost many millions and be an immense project that could take decades. The artifacts, art and stained glass windows that have probably been destroyed are gone forever though, very, very sad

Reports I'm hearing, say that fire chiefs believe the whole structure of the building could be in danger of collapse because the fire is still spreading.

Seemingly when the fire broke out, Macron had been due to address the Fench nation on measures prompted by Yellow Jacket protests.

**La♔De♔Da♔Brigadier Graham** · April 15, 2019, 03:53 PM

This is very sad, as a kid the thing that made me aware of Notre Dame was Victor Hugo's the Hunchback of Notre Dame and then an old movie with Charles Laughton (1939)

I hope it can be rebuilt to its former glory!

**Copperknickers II** · April 15, 2019, 03:57 PM

Reports coming in that the structure of the building has probably been saved by firefighters which is a blessing, although the spire has already collapsed. A firefighter has also been hurt. Shocking scenes.

**Mary The Quene** · April 15, 2019, 03:58 PM

Damn, i'm saddened by this, i remember me walking in the Notre Dame

**Aexodus** · April 15, 2019, 04:37 PM

I’ve heard that they saved the artworks and relics, so that at least is small consolation.

**Diamat** · April 15, 2019, 05:08 PM

And that's why you don't lock a dimwit inside a cathedral.

**Diocle** · April 15, 2019, 07:01 PM

Another piece of what remains of old Europe's corpse, has been lost forever ..

**Basileos Leandros I** · April 15, 2019, 07:12 PM

Water was not being sent from airplanes due to possible structural damage the water would create.

**Basileos Leandros I** · April 15, 2019, 07:14 PM

Originally Posted by Diocle

Another piece of what remains of old Europe's corpse, has been lost forever ..

Let's not pretend this hasn't happened before - the spire that collapsed was actually from the mid-19th century, made by Viollet Le Duc, not from the original one made in 1200. Most buildings have to have at least something replaced during it's lifetime.

This is a tragedy, and luckily the collapse has been averted, but it happened to many other landmarks and it can be renovated / rebuilt back to it's former glory.

**Morifea** · April 16, 2019, 12:40 AM

@Basileos Leandros I: Thank you for explaining!

Current Status is, that the fire was happened because of the repair works.... You can savely assume that the person who fuc**** that up is now running as far as he can.
Money for the rebuild won`t be a problem, there are already pledges into the millions.

**Quintus Hortensius Hortalus** · April 16, 2019, 02:04 AM

I was shocked by the pictures last evening by the firemen of Paris did apparantly a great job yesterday by saving the two towers and many artifacts from the interior. So many thanks and congrats to them