A fire that engulfed the French medieval cathedral of Notre-Dame has been fully extinguished after over nine hours of fighting, the Paris Fire Brigade has announced.
“After more than 9 hours of fierce fighting, nearly 400 firefighters from Paris extinguished the appalling fire. 2 policemen and a firefighter were slightly injured,” the fire service said in a tweet on Tuesday.
It said the main structure of the 850-year-old Gothic cathedral had been “saved and the main works of art have been put somewhere safe, thanks to the combined action of the different services of the State working together.”
The fire began at around 18:30 (16:30 GMT) on Monday and quickly tore through the cathedral’s timbered roofing, where renovation work was underway. The blaze destroyed stained-glass windows and the wooden interior before firefighters could contain it.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron, who called the fire a “terrible tragedy,” said the worst had been avoided.
Macron also announced an international fundraising campaign to raise money for the rebuilding of the world-famous French landmark.
“We will rebuild it together. It will undoubtedly be part of French destiny and our project for the years to come,” Macron said outside the cathedral.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo also announced a contribution of 50 million euros (56 million dollars) from the city for the restoration of the cathedral, which he estimated to cost hundreds of millions of euros.
French billionaire Bernard Arnault, who runs the multinational luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, also pledged a total of 200 million euros (226 million dollars) from his family and company to help rebuild "this extraordinary cathedral, a symbol of France, its heritage and its unity."
A French charity that works to protect the country’s heritage, Fondation du Patrimoine, is launching an international appeal to raise funds.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said it had launched an investigation into the cause of the incident, which according to several police sources was “accidental.”
Paris’s Notre-Dame Cathedral has gone up in flames, leaving the nation awestruck and prompting fears that the historic structure could suffer unprecedented damage.
The blaze erupted at around 16:30 GMT on Monday, causing the wood-and-lead spire to collapse onto the roof. Locals have been reported by various news agencies as saying that the entire rooftop has been destroyed in the fire.
Nobody was injured, Junior Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told Reuters at the scene.
"It's too early to determine the causes of the fire," he added, but France 2 television reported that the police were treating it as an accident.
The inferno broke out while the structure was undergoing renovation.
One of 16 copper statues, sitting 50 meters above the ground, is lifted off the Notre-Dame-de-Paris Cathedral to be taken for restoration on April 11, 2019. (Photo by AFP)
‘Northern tower in danger’
The agency cited a firefighter as saying that efforts were underway to prevent the cathedral’s northern tower from collapsing.
Paris fire brigade chief Jean-Claude Gallet, however, said, "We can consider that the main structure of Notre-Dame has been saved and preserved." It appeared that the two main towers of the building have now been saved, he added.
Later in the day, AFP reported that the fire had destroyed the cathedral’s roof, but firefighters had “won” the battle to save the building’s main structure.
President Emmanuel Macron cancelled an address to rush to the area. "Like all our compatriots, I am sad this evening to see this part of all of us burn," he tweeted.
Macron also vowed that "we will rebuild" Notre-Dame and expressed relief that "the worst had been avoided."
Smoke billowed and ashes flew across a large part of the city following the blaze.
Witnesses said the whole island of the Ile de la Cite in River Seine, which houses the structure, was being evacuated.
Trump’s solution nixed
Donald Trump, meanwhile, suggested that water-bombing aircraft be “quickly” deployed to douse the blaze.
The French Civil Security service, however, spurned the solution, apparently responding to the US president. "Helicopter or plane, the weight of the water and the intensity of dropping it at low altitude could weaken the structure of Notre-Dame and cause collateral damage to surrounding buildings," it tweeted.
UNESCO, which has listed the building as a World Heritage Site, said in a tweet that it was "closely monitoring the situation and is standing by France's side to safeguard and restore” it.
The Vatican said the blaze had caused "shock and sadness."
The cathedral dates back to the 12th century. It is hailed as one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture.
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