#2018 north ba ycal fire crack
#2018 north ba ycal fire windows

Firefighters then retreated from within the attic. The spire of the cathedral collapsed at 19:50, creating a draft that slammed all the doors and sent a fireball through the attic. īy 18:52, smoke was visible from outside flames appeared in the next ten minutes, as firefighters arrived.

Molten lead falling from the roof posed a special hazard for firefighters. Helicopters were not used because of dangerous updrafts but drones were used for visual and thermal imaging, and robots for visual imaging and directing water streams.

#2018 north ba ycal fire crack

Īerial firefighting was not used because water dropped from heights could have caused structural damage, and heated stone can crack if suddenly cooled. Deluge guns were used at lower-than-usual pressures to minimise damage to the cathedral and its contents, with water that was supplied by pump-boat from the Seine. The fire was primarily fought from inside the structure, which was more dangerous for personnel but reduced potential damage to the cathedral applying water from outside risked deflecting flames and hot gases (at temperatures up to 800 ☌ or 1500 ☏) inwards. More than 400 firefighters were engaged another hundred government workers worked to move precious objects to safety via a human chain also including police and municipal workers. The Paris Fire Brigade drilled regularly to prepare for emergencies there, including on-site exercises in 2018 a firefighter was posted to the cathedral each day and fire wardens checked conditions beneath the roof three times daily. Įxtensive attention had been given to the risk of fire at the cathedral. At the time of the fire, the spire was undergoing restoration and scaffolding was being erected over the transept. In 2014, the Ministry of Culture estimated needed renovations at €150 million, and in 2016 the Archdiocese of Paris launched an appeal to raise €100 million over the following five to ten years. The roof timbers were dry, spongy and powdery with age. The cathedral's stonework has been severely eroded by years of weather and pollution, and the spire had extensively rotted because fissures in its lead sheathing were admitting water. The spire was rebuilt several times, most recently in the 19th century. Its walls and interior vaulted ceiling are of stone its roof and flèche (spire) were of wood (much of it 13th-century oak), sheathed in lead to exclude water. The Catholic cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris ('Our Lady of Paris'), part of the 'Paris, Banks of the Seine' UNESCO World Heritage Site, was begun in the 12th century. On 25 December 2019, the cathedral did not host Christmas Mass for the first time since 1803. A complete restoration could require twenty years or more.

įrench president Emmanuel Macron said that the cathedral would be restored by 2024, and launched a fundraising campaign which brought in pledges of over €1 billion as of 22 April 2019. The fire resulted in the contamination of the site and nearby areas of the city with toxic dust and lead.

#2018 north ba ycal fire windows

The cathedral's altar, two pipe organs, and three 13th-century rose windows suffered little or no damage. Many works of art and religious relics were moved to safety early in the emergency, but others suffered smoke damage, and some of the exterior art was damaged or destroyed. Extensive damage to the interior was prevented by its stone vaulted ceiling, which largely contained the burning roof as it collapsed. By the time the structure fire was extinguished, the building's spire had collapsed, most of its roof had been destroyed, and its upper walls were severely damaged. On 15 April 2019, just before 18:20 CEST, a fire broke out beneath the roof of the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. Roof and spire destroyed windows and vaulted ceilings damaged