The fire started at the end of the day yesterday, around 18:50 p.m.: under the eyes of Parisians and tourists, the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral was hit by a very violent fire which spread from the attic of the cathedral, where renovations were taking place.
The fire spread at a very high speed. The whole roof was very quickly hit by the flames, which also progressed into the spire, one of the symbolic elements of this monument whose construction began in the 1871th century, and which had never been affected by a fire of such magnitude, not even when rioters attacked it during the Commune of XNUMX.
Shortly before 20 p.m., the spire of Notre-Dame collapsed, completely destroyed by the flames. Standing at 93m high, it was the tallest element of the cathedral.
The flames continued to spread. The firefighters intervened not only on the outside of the cathedral, to try to stop the progression of the fire, but also inside, to save as many art objects as possible.
“The framework dates from the XNUMXth century and from the XNUMXth century on the other, nothing will remain of it,” said cathedral spokesperson André Finot.
The roof was effectively almost completely destroyed, leaving the stone walls and towers standing.
In the Parisian sky, a thick plume of smoke could be seen. Emmanuel Macron, who went there after canceling the planned speech, expressed “the emotion of a whole nation”.
In the evening, firefighters continued to fight the fire. The fire reached the north tower of the cathedral, endangering the rest of the building.
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