French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to rebuild the medieval cathedral of Notre-Dame after a major fire.
Firefighters managed to save the 850-year-old Gothic building’s main stone structure including its two towers however, the spire and roof collapsed. The fire was declared under control almost nine hours after it started. The cause of the fire is unclear but it could be linked to extensive renovation works under way.
The fire began at around 18:30 local time (16:30 GMT), it quickly reached the roof of the cathedral destroying its stained-glass windows and the wooden interior before the spire collapsed. In the early hours of April 16th the fire was declared under control and is expected to take several days to be completely extinguished.
According to fire brigade spokesman Lt-Col Gabriel Plus “the whole of the roof has been devastated… a part of the vault has collapsed, the spire is no more”.
Already, groups and individuals are coming together to help rebuild Notre-Dame, hundreds of millions of euros have already been pledged. François-Henri Pinault, chairman and CEO of the Kering group that owns the Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent fashion brands, vowed to give €100 million (£83 million) towards the rebuilding of Notre-Dame. Another €200m was pledged by Bernard Arnault’s family and their company LVMH.
Mr Macron said the “worst had been avoided” with the preservation of the cathedral’s main structure.
“We’ll rebuild this cathedral all together and it’s undoubtedly part of the French destiny and the project we’ll have for the coming years,”
“That’s what the French expect [and] because it’s what our history deserves,” he added, visibly emotional, calling it a “terrible tragedy”.
Laurent Nunez, junior minister of the interior said on Tuesday: “Now the fire danger has been dealt with, there is the issue of the building and whether the structure has resisted the very serious fire. A meeting of experts and national architects is taking place this morning to consider whether the building is stable and whether fire-officers can set up inside to continue their work.”
Emergency teams managed to rescue valuable artwork and religious items which were stored inside the cathedral built in the 12th and 13th centuries.
“We had a chain of solidarity, especially in saving the works of art… [They] were able to be saved and put in a safe place,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. “This is a tragedy for the whole world… Notre-Dame is the entire history of Paris.”
Thousands of people gathered in the streets around the cathedral observing the flames in silence, many prayed whilst the fire continued to blaze. Firefighters said the heat of the fire reached more than 800C which has caused heat damaged to the building.
France’s culture minister, Franck Riester, took to twitter to say: “2/2 after more than 9H of fierce fighting, nearly 400 firefighters from Paris came to grips with the appalling fire. two policemen and one firefighter were slightly wounded.”
2/2 Après plus de 9h de combats acharnés, près de 400 pompiers de Paris sont venus à bout de l’effroyable l’incendie. 2 policiers et un sapeur-pompier ont été légèrement blessés. pic.twitter.com/re9ZR0KB3W
— Pompiers de Paris (@PompiersParis) April 16, 2019
He also tweeted again yesterday to say: “Tonight, my heart is wounded, like all the French. Notre-Dame de Paris is a symbol of our heritage that has gone through all the trials. The agents @MinistereCC are on the ground, alongside the security and rescue forces.”
Ce soir, j’ai le cœur blessé, comme tous les Français. Notre-Dame de Paris est un symbole de notre patrimoine qui a traversé toutes les épreuves. Les agents du @MinistereCC sont sur le terrain, aux côtés des forces de sécurité et de secours. pic.twitter.com/l7Pw8QhX9W
— Franck Riester (@franckriester) April 15, 2019
The cathedral and surrounded areas were evacuated and police closed several metro stations and cordoned off roads by the river.
