Paris - Fire at Notre Dame Cathedral, Apr 2019

[dixiegirl1035]

Editorial Cartoon: Paris Fire at Notre Dame

That reminds me of all the cartoonish (I'm lacking in vocabulary to use the correct word for what I am trying to describe) works that came out when the boys in the cave were being rescued. So much can be said through Artistry to capture emotions. I hope I see more of them here on the threads as I would think there would be some in France also, although it's more common where the boys were to communicate stuff through artistry. Especially tragedies.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

16 Touching Artists' Tributes To Notre-Dame de Paris

 

[Inthedetails]

My sister said when she visited Notre Dame a couple of years ago, "It's as if, you weren't just there with other people, but actually walking among spirits of people past. The veil between the two was so thin."
In these times, there are far too few places where you can experience anything like it. And I hope, whatever comes in the future for Notre Dame, the spirits will still be there.

Great description. I also felt a lot of "time travel" feelings yesterday - my thoughts were definitely with all the people who made the building over the years, visited the place, etc.

Very special place. Grateful our time in history didn't ruin it completely. Rebuilding is now part of the story.

jmo

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

I haven't caught up on overnight posts and apologize if this has already been shared.

Michigan woman snaps viral photo an hour before Notre Dame fire in Paris

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

Hero priest saves precious artifacts from Notre Dame Cathedral fire, but the fate of many treasures remains unknown

Jean-Marc Fournier, the chaplain of the Paris Fire Brigade who also played a key role in supporting Parisians following the 2015 Bataclan terror attack, saved the Blessed Sacrament and the Crown of Thorns after he went in with the firefighters, Sky News reported.

“Father Fournier is an absolute hero,” an emergency services member said. “He showed no fear at all as he made straight for the relics inside the cathedral, and made sure they were saved. He deals with life and death every day, and shows no fear.”

 

[dixiegirl1035]

What I have not seen reported yet, is how many of the Priceless collection pieces were saved by merely being Underground. When I went to the Vatican, Florence, Siena, all of them in Spain.... the Priceless collections, excluding those on display in the main Cathedral, were kept underground in the cathedrals.

Hoping that so much was saved because they were Underground and therefore inherently protected from the Falling Timbers, water, and fire onto the floors of the main level.

I wonder if they are sending drones in to assess? The photographs we have seen, are they merely long shots from the front door?

 

[PommyMommy]

Billionaires Francois Henri Pinault and Bernard Arnault donate millions to Notre Dame restoration - CNN
France's three wealthiest families are coming to the rescue of a national icon, spearheading a fundraising drive to rebuild Notre Dame that has topped $700 million.

The billionaires behind luxury giants LVMH Group, Kering and L'Oreal on Tuesday pledged a combined €500 million ($565 million) after a massive fire ripped through the Paris cathedral.

[...]

The three fashion dynasties have invoked patriotism and shared cultural identity in explaining their generosity following the devastating fire.

[...]

Combined with other donations from companies including French bank Crédit Agricole, the total amount pledged by business and wealthy donors has reached $700 million.

[...]

The process will be expensive and lengthy, and it could take time to begin in earnest. Immediate steps will need to be taken to prevent further damage, since the structure is now particularly vulnerable to water damage.

It's tough to estimate the total time and cost of the restoration.

The Venice Opera House, which was gutted by a blaze in 1996, reportedly reopened eight years later after €60 million ($68 million) was spent.

When Windsor Castle, one of Britain's royal residences, was severely damaged in a fire in 1992, it reopened nearly five years later at a cost of £36.5 million ($47.8 million).

 

[PommyMommy]

Notre-Dame: The story of the fire in graphics
[...]

[...]

The fire was finally declared out at about 10:00 on Tuesday morning.

What has been damaged?
[...]

Underneath the roof, the vaulted stone ceiling appears to have survived mostly intact and this will have protected the inside of the building from the worst ravages of the fire. But it is still unclear how much of the interior will have suffered water damage.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said most artworks and religious relics were removed from the cathedral as firefighters worked to control the flames.

Sixteen bronze statues, including the 12 apostles, were removed from around the spire only four days ago, prior to the latest renovation work.

The Archbishop of Paris says all three of the cathedral's famed rose windows have been saved, but other, smaller windows, closer to the seat of the fire, have been badly damaged.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

https://nypost.com/2019/04/16/some-notre-dame-cathedral-relics-are-still-missing/
[...]

A piece of the cross on which Jesus was nailed, as well as one of the nails itself, have not yet been recovered.

Also missing are three holy items in the spire that collapsed in the roaring flames Monday — a fragment of the Crown of Thorns and relics from Saint Denis and Saint Genevieve, two of Paris’ most cherished saints.

Jean-Marc Fournier, the chaplain of the Paris Fire Brigade, is being lauded as a hero for saving the Crown of Thorns, which is believed to have been worn by Jesus, as well as the Blessed Sacrament.

The spire contained a separate piece of the crown.

[...]

Other significant pieces inside Notre Dame were spared from the blaze, including an 18th-century organ with 8,000 pipes and the three massive stained-glass Rose windows built in the 13th century. The cathedral’s iconic pair of bell towers also remained intact.

 

[flute4peace]

My sister said when she visited Notre Dame a couple of years ago, "It's as if, you weren't just there with other people, but actually walking among spirits of people past. The veil between the two was so thin."
In these times, there are far too few places where you can experience anything like it. And I hope, whatever comes in the future for Notre Dame, the spirits will still be there.

I had the same experience. I'm not Catholic, but I am Christian, and it was a very sacred space.

 

[PommyMommy]

Notre Dame Fire Damage Seen By Daylight

Notre Dame assessed for structural damage after fire extinguished
Police and fire services will spend the next 48 hours assessing the “security and safety” of Notre Dame Cathedral after a fire at the historic monument in the centre of Paris on Monday evening.

[...]

Architects have identified three main holes in the structure, in the locations of the spire, the transept and the vault of the north transept. Most of the wooden roof beams have been burned, and parts of the concrete vaulting holding up the roof have collapsed.

As well as damage from the heat, which firefighters said reached more than 800C, experts also need to assess damage from the vast quantities of water that the firefighters poured into the cathedral.

French interior minister, Christophe Castaner, said the cathedral was “under permanent surveillance because it can still budge.”

[...]

Julien Le Bras, from the scaffolding company involved in the renovation, said his company had worked on a number of historic buildings in France, including the Louvre, and none of his workers were at the site when the fire broke out.

“It is with unqualified sadness I am speaking,” he told a press conference. “The police investigation is taking place and our workers will help answer questions with no reserve whatsoever to throw light on the cause of this drama. At the moment the fire started, none of the workers of my company was present at the site. All security and fire requirements were respected.”

[...]

 

[Hatfield]

Billionaires Francois Henri Pinault and Bernard Arnault donate millions to Notre Dame restoration - CNN
France's three wealthiest families are coming to the rescue of a national icon, spearheading a fundraising drive to rebuild Notre Dame that has topped $700 million.

The billionaires behind luxury giants LVMH Group, Kering and L'Oreal on Tuesday pledged a combined €500 million ($565 million) after a massive fire ripped through the Paris cathedral.

[...]

The three fashion dynasties have invoked patriotism and shared cultural identity in explaining their generosity following the devastating fire.

[...]

Combined with other donations from companies including French bank Crédit Agricole, the total amount pledged by business and wealthy donors has reached $700 million.

[...]

The process will be expensive and lengthy, and it could take time to begin in earnest. Immediate steps will need to be taken to prevent further damage, since the structure is now particularly vulnerable to water damage.

It's tough to estimate the total time and cost of the restoration.

The Venice Opera House, which was gutted by a blaze in 1996, reportedly reopened eight years later after €60 million ($68 million) was spent.

When Windsor Castle, one of Britain's royal residences, was severely damaged in a fire in 1992, it reopened nearly five years later at a cost of £36.5 million ($47.8 million).

This is good news that people are already stepping up to repair it.

Saving most of the relics and repairing the church is about the best news we could have gotten.

 

[Elley Mae]

It’s believed that the fire may have begun high up in the cathedral, below the roof. Workers involved in the restoration were interviewed by investigators overnight. They are all said to have finished work for the day and had left the site before the fire took hold.

https://www.euronews.com/2019/04/16...caused-by-accident-and-probe-restoration-work

Suggestions that the fire may have been caused by welding work were reportedly dismissed by the architect responsible for the restoration of the spire, who said that such work had not yet begun.

......

Last Sunday, the historic Church of St. Sulpice in Paris was set on fire just after midday mass on Sunday, Le Parisien reported, although no one was injured. Police are still investigating the attack, which firefighters have confidently attributed to arson.

Catholic churches have been desecrated across France—and officials don’t know why

Last month, at the St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Houilles, in north-central France, a statue of the Virgin Mary was found smashed, and the altar cross had been thrown on the ground, according to La Croix International, a Catholic publication.

Also in February, at Saint-Alain Cathedral in Lavaur, in south-central France, an altar cloth was burned and crosses and statues of saints were smashed. The attack prompted Lavaur Mayor Bernard Canyon to say in a statement: “God will forgive. Not me.”

And in the southern city of Nimes, near the Spanish border, vandals looted the altar of the church of Notre-Dame des Enfants (Our Lady of the Children) and smeared a cross with human excrement.

This act of profanation hurts us all in our deepest convictions,” he added, according to The Tablet, which reported that in February alone there had been a record 47 documented attacks on churches and religious sites.

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

Why the Notre Dame fire was so hard to put out

Video released by the French Interior Ministry showed the scale of the response. Authorities deployed some 400 firefighters, pumped water from the Seine and flew drones to survey the damage.

The biggest problem, experts say, was accessing the wooden ceiling beams which formed the frame for the soaring roof.

Once the beams start burning, the stone exterior makes it harder for firefighters outside the building to get to the source of the flames. The stone traps heat and smoke, preventing them from working inside.

The Notre Dame's height also posed a challenge, providing extra oxygen for the fire to breath and complicating efforts to reach the flames.

"The fuel load is way up in the air, and the firefighters can't get to it quickly," said Glenn Corbett, associate professor of fire science at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

"The fact that they were able to control the fire spread as much as they did and save a large portion of the building, including the two bell towers, it's a tremendous effort," said Favre.

"I think any firefighter that you ask that does this for a living would tell you that this is a significant firefighting event and those firefighters should be praised significantly."

 

[Gunslinging Granny]

It’s believed that the fire may have begun high up in the cathedral, below the roof. Workers involved in the restoration were interviewed by investigators overnight. They are all said to have finished work for the day and had left the site before the fire took hold.

Notre Dame investigators believe fire caused ‘by accident’ and probe restoration work

Suggestions that the fire may have been caused by welding work were reportedly dismissed by the architect responsible for the restoration of the spire, who said that such work had not yet begun.

No welding had occurred on site. smh

It's baffling that no investigation had occurred, yet officials quickly announced it was an accident.

 

[Elley Mae]

6.20pm, Monday 15 April
An alarm sounds during mass at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The public prosecutor, Rémy Heitz, says later it is unclear whether it was a smoke or a heat alarm. The priest hesitates, then continues with the service, believing it may be a false alarm. But although no sign of fire was found, the 850-year-old building was evacuated as a precautionary measure. At 6.43pm, a second alarm went off: fire declared.

7.10pm
Smoke plume clearly visible from afar. Photos start circulating on social media and crowds gather on left and right banks of River Seine as police seal off Île de la Cité and fire service arrives.

Notre Dame Cathedral fire – a visual guide and timeline

....

First alarm at 6:20 ignored. Second alarm 6:43 fire declared. 7:10 fire service arrives.

50 minutes it burned. Sad, so Sad.

 

[Inthedetails]

No welding had occurred on site. It's baffling that no investigation had occurred, yet officials quickly announced it was an accident.

BBM

The investigation started while the fire was still burning. They announced yesterday that an investigation had started.

Do you have a link that there is no investigation? I've been following the case since it first hit the news and have read quite a few statements about an investigation.

 

[Gunslinging Granny]

BBM

The investigation started while the fire was still burning. They announced yesterday that an investigation had started.

Do you have a link that there is no investigation? I've been following the case since it first hit the news and have read quite a few statements about an investigation.

Exactly how would an investigation occur and be completed within minutes?

 

[Inthedetails]

6.20pm, Monday 15 April
An alarm sounds during mass at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The public prosecutor, Rémy Heitz, says later it is unclear whether it was a smoke or a heat alarm. The priest hesitates, then continues with the service, believing it may be a false alarm. But although no sign of fire was found, the 850-year-old building was evacuated as a precautionary measure. At 6.43pm, a second alarm went off: fire declared.

7.10pm
Smoke plume clearly visible from afar. Photos start circulating on social media and crowds gather on left and right banks of River Seine as police seal off Île de la Cité and fire service arrives.

Notre Dame Cathedral fire – a visual guide and timeline

....

First alarm at 6:20 ignored. Second alarm 6:43 fire declared. 7:10 fire service arrives.

50 minutes it burned. Sad, so Sad.

I read yesterday that after the first alarm, they couldn't find a fire - NOT that the alarm was ignored. It makes some sense since the fire was in the attic - difficult to find at first. Then it spread, as we know and the following alarms went off.

jmo

 

[Inthedetails]

Exactly how would an investigation occur with such a fire that began to spread so quickly and one that consumed the entire roof?

I don't understand the question. How does a fire investigation occur? - is that your question?

Fire investigation is sophisticated and there are experts - it's definitely a science that has been studied. Not sure why anyone would doubt an investigation happened at possibly the most famous fire of our time.

jmo