Colossal fire damages historic Notre Dame Cathedral

PARIS: French firefighters were racing Monday to save Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris after a colossal fire caused the spire of the historic edifice to crash to the ground and wiped out centuries of heritage.

The fire already destroyed the roof of the 850-year-old UNESCO world heritage landmark, whose spectacular gothic spire collapsed before the eyes of horrified onlookers on a previously pristine early spring evening.

The fire, which came as Catholics prepare to celebrate Easter, sent orange flames and clouds of grey smoke billowing into the sky as stunned Parisians and tourists watched on in horror.

As darkness fell, some 400 firefighters battled against the odds to control the fire and save at least its iconic front towers which were still standing.

The cause of the blaze was not immediately confirmed. The cathedral had been undergoing intense restoration work which the fire service said could be linked to the blaze. Historians expressed incredulity at the collapse of a building that has been a symbol of France for almost a millenium and withstood war and revolution.

“If Paris is the Eiffel Tower then France is Notre Dame. It’s the entire culture, entire historyof France incarnated in this monument,” Bernard Lecompte, a writer and specialist in religious history, told BFM TV.

A spokesman for the cathedral told AFP that the wooden structure supporting the roof was being gutted by the blaze. Senior Paris fire service official General Jean-Claude Gallet told reporters at the scene it was not certain if the spread of the fire to the northern bell tower could be stopped.

The main structure of the cathedral has been saved after hours of fire-fighting to put out a devastating blaze, the city’s top fire official said. “We can consider that the main structure of Notre Dame has been saved and preserved,” Paris fire brigade chief Jean-Claude Gallet told reporters outside the cathedral, adding it appeared that the two main towers of the building had now been saved.

Deputy Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, also speaking at the scene, added that saving the Gothic monument “is not certain.”

President Emmanuel Macron cancelled a major televised policy speech he was due to give on Monday evening and headed to the scene in person. In a tweet he expressed the “emotion of a whole nation” on seeing Notre-Dame ablaze.

“Like all my compatriots I am sad to see a part of us burn this evening” he said, expressing solidarity with “all Catholics and all French people.”German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Notre-Dame cathedral a “symbol of European culture” as the blaze raged. The Vatican on Monday expressed its “incredulity” and “sadness”, expressing “our closeness with French Catholics and with the Parisian population.”

There was no immediate indication of any casualties in the blaze.US President Donald Trump in a tweet said: “So horrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!”

The cathedral was located at the centre of the French capital in the Middle Ages and its construction was completed in the mid-12th Century after some 200 years of work. During the French Revolution in the 18th century, the cathedral was vandalised in widespread anti-Catholic violence: its spire was dismantled, its treasures plundered and its large statues at the grand entrance doors destroyed.

It would go on to feature as a central character in a Victor Hugo novel published in 1831, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and shortly afterwards a restoration project lasting two decades got underway, led by architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc.