SonyBug

Shows how wrong they can be, or they were miss reported. The fire was officially out at about 4:00 a.m. local time.

GARGLEBLASTER Loc: Spain

There wer 500 firefighters, not 1,500

Woodworm65 Loc: Lombard, IL

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

This structure was constructed during many lifetimes, and restoring it may take several more - but domestic sources of wealth {Total - the energy company, several "beauty" outfits, etc} have already pledged millions of Euros each, the French government has made promises, and hopefully more will come from the Vatican and foreigners .... but doing the job right will take time. CNN last night had a story about fire suppression technology at St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC (*) - hopefully they can integrate that sort of thing as they rebuild.

(*) modern fire detectors and "dry" suppression {I'm thinking Halon or some such thing}. CNN reported just now that the fire alarms went off at 6:20 pm; they evacuated the structure, but couldn't find anything. Only when the alarms went off a second time at 6:45 pm was the fire department summoned; a modern system would tell them where to look.

Soul Dr. Loc: Beautiful Shenandoah Valley

I saw that 2 French billionaires are donating 339 million dollars towards the restoration efforts. And I am sure much more Will come from donations worldwide.
Such a tragic loss. 850 years of history gone up in smoke.

sumo Loc: Houston suburb

A comment I pulled off facebook

Bob Guzzardi Maxime Lépante is a colleague from Europe. He is reliable.
Apr 15 at 9:09 PM

Hello again

Notre-Dame was one of the most important jewels of all human history. It started the "gothic" architecture revolution, that was, from 12th to 15th century called "francigenum opus" ("French art") before being called "gothic" by the Italians. It's the epitome of Western civilization and Christian art. The framing of the roof, which was one of the biggest masterpieces of human carpentry, is permanently destroyed. The stained glasses (biggest and most ancient rose windows in Europe) are probably saved.

Some other informations :

1) the workers who were refurbishing the roof of Notre-Dame are among the best specialized craftsmen in the world, concerning the restauration of medieval monuments (their title is "Meilleur Ouvrier de France").

They love their work, and take all the necessary precautions. They have worked in many rooms of the Castle of Versailles, they have restored many churches and cathedrals. For example, they worked during more than 20 years on the marvelous Strasbourg cathedral (I lived in Strasbourg and saw their progress), and there was never a single problem.

2) the workers stopped at 6:00 PM, the fire started at 6:50 PM, near scaffoldings, used to climb there.

3) no electricity was allowed near the roof, because it was made in wood and as a matter of security, every inflammable thing was banned too.

So, to have a fire there, someone needed to bring something.

Best regards,

Maxime

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

Yes, I was too cynical. And I read your posted link. There have already been pledges of hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild the Cathedral. Not including yet, pledges of Euros from the European theatre. And monies from the rest of the world's participating Christian countries. President Macron of France, said on French TV, that the Cathedral will be rebuilt. And he said it with extreme confidence.

Sunnely Loc: Wisconsin

Hmm...

I smell the start of Conspiracy Theory here.

chikid68 Loc: Tennesse USA

The cross was the first thing I noticed as well.
I am expecting that image to be as historical as the flag raising after 9/11

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

I hope a small cadre of photographers will begin collecting interior and exterior pictures of Cathedral detail for the guidance of the reconstructors. Having upwards of 70,000 members the UHH is a suitable place to begin. Could the Administrator create a special Notre Dame Rebuild forum for photo storage?

My mind has turned to how did it start. Was there welding going on and sparks fell onto dried wood. Why didn’t the contractor have fire suppressant capability. Did a worker toss a cigarette butt? If you are doing restoration work on wood why would you need fire-anything.

agillot

am from there , sad , but it will be fixed , not necessarily same roof , but fire proof .there are better [ more scenic ]cathedrals .in Paris the basilica of st Denis north of Paris [ st Denis metro stop ] , is stunning inside .a lot of history inside .most tourists are unaware of this .google it .

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Please read the comment by @Sumo above.
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-587593-3.html#10067154

The procedures should have prevented an event of this type. The procedures obviously failed, but the fire was very hot - we may never know what happened

Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida

This is so painful to witness and I am told that no water was used as they attempted to rescue artworks from below the flames .The weight of the water would collapse the structure in on the rescuers and firemen inside. It will be a total loss by midnight I suspect.

I'm not Catholic nor French but I am crying over it anyway........ huge death in the world family it truly is.
I hope all Americans will donate funds to resurrect it soon. We wouldn't be here were it not for the French in earlier times . It is the very least we can do. What a shame this really is. Wow !

GRIZ357 Loc: Texas

The authorities are now saying that the structure is sound, and pledging that it will be rebuilt. We can certainly hope so.

Anhanga Brasil Loc: Cabo Frio - Brazil

Sad news indeed. The same happened to our National Museum in Rio de Janeiro
last year.