BBC: Notre-Dame cathedral: Firefighters tackle blaze in Paris

[menifred 79]

Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral on fire 😢😢😢

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47941794

 

C'est absolument atroce.

[Xenon 7,500]

OMG NO!

Where the hell is the fire department?!?!?!

[+Human.Online 8,610]

2 minutes ago, Xenon said:

OMG NO!

Where the hell is the fire department?!?!?!

From the article:

 

"A major operation is under way to tackle the blaze"

"respect the boundaries set up by fire crews"

Heck, there's even a photo of them!

[Xenon 7,500]

Wow. They were doing some work on the roof. I wonder if that was a cause. 

[+Zag L. 731]

Im watching this on France 24 on youtube. Truly a devastating cultural loss. 

[menifred 79]

Watching on https://www.bfmtv.com/mediaplayer/live-video/ It's so tragic

[+Zag L. 731]

The France 24 Live channel has English anchors/reporters for those of us here in the States that do not speak French

[Brandon H 3,175]

OH NO!!! I hope they can at least save some of it

 

looks horrible on the live streams

[+primortal 12,639]

Just heartbreaking

[Xenon 7,500]

They will rebuild it. Not all of the building was original. 

 

I wonder how much of the material inside did they save. 

[Brandon H 3,175]

1 minute ago, Xenon said:

They will rebuild it. Not all of the building was original. 

 

I wonder how much of the material inside did they save. 

there's a lot of history and art in there that could potentially be lost though; that's the true loss IMO

[menifred 79]

Just now, Brandon H said:

there's a lot of history and art in there that could potentially be lost though; that's the true loss IMO

I agree.  The main roof was original (1,000 years old).

[Jim K 13,756]

Terrible.... 

 

So much history just wiped out ... not just the structure but also the archaeological crypt  (which I'm sure had been extensively damaged)

[Brandon H 3,175]

firefighters are saying they may not be able to save it now

[neufuse 3,901]

I really hope they digitized everything they could in that place in the past to preserve stuff even after it's been lost... like all the paintings all the artifacts all cataloged and extensively photographed the interior... etc..

 

and it sounds like people doing the renovation on the spire caused this? heck just this past week they pulled down the 16 statues on the building to restore them

 

if you saw the time lapse of the webcam that was watching the cathedral, the fire started at the spire at least where you could see it externally

[Xenon 7,500]

Reports now saying that they saved a lot but not all of the art inside. They began to remove items as soon as the fire started. 

[+warwagon 13,212]

Why don't they fly over it with a tanker and just dump about 1,000 gallons of water on it?

[+Human.Online 8,610]

2 minutes ago, warwagon said:

Why don't they fly over it with a tanker and just dump about 1,000 gallons of water on it?

Trump said similar on Twitter and much of the world facepalmed. I mean, you do understand why that’s not even close to an option and you’re kidding right?

[PGHammer 1,504]

3 hours ago, Xenon said:

Wow. They were doing some work on the roof. I wonder if that was a cause. 

Likely - a similar fire (caused by roof repair) wrecked the Prince George's County, MD "Old Courthouse" a few years back.  This cathedral dates back to the thirteenth century (thus far older than even the oldest colony in North America).

[+warwagon 13,212]

2 minutes ago, Human.Online said:

Trump said similar on Twitter and much of the world facepalmed

why the facepalm? What's the alternative? Just let it burn to the ground?

[Xenon 7,500]

6 minutes ago, warwagon said:

Why don't they fly over it with a tanker and just dump about 1,000 gallons of water on it?

Two things.

 

1. Do they have any.

2. The damage that the falling fire retardant will cause. You are talking liquid being thrown at a good speed on to a weakened structure. They usually don't use water.

[+warwagon 13,212]

Just now, Xenon said:

Two things.

 

1. Do they have any.

2. The damage that the falling fire retardant will cause. They usually don't use water. 

Well, looks like they can't do much worse.

[Brandon H 3,175]

8 minutes ago, warwagon said:

Why don't they fly over it with a tanker and just dump about 1,000 gallons of water on it?

because of the crypt underneath they were saying on the above live stream Zag linked

[Xenon 7,500]

2 minutes ago, warwagon said:

Well, looks like they can't do much worse.

Actually there is priceless stained glass windows that could be broken, plus using that on a weakened structure might cause a structural collapse.

[+Human.Online 8,610]

3 minutes ago, warwagon said:

why the facepalm? What's the alternative? Just let it burn to the ground?

Go do a little research about the building, it’s crypt, the reasons for the renovations, the contents within, the location, the water table in Paris and then answer your own question.

3 minutes ago, warwagon said:

Well, looks like they can't do much worse.

Historically important artefacts are being rescued as we speak! He’s to do when you’ve destroyed them with water!