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Looks bad, really bad.

I am an atheist but I sure as hell won't knock someone's religion when people are hurting over this.

And the loss of such an important piece of architecture and history is just devastating.

Expected to be a total loss.
I'm floored.

I loved going there and just sitting and absorbing. Few places bring as much peace...

I hope beyond hope this is contained.

I hope they can contain it.

from being religious as it's possible to be but this is a terrible thing. Notre Dame Cathedral is not just for Catholics or even a religion , its a treasure for the whole world. That looks bad too.

It is a beautiful place and it is horrifying to see it on fire.

That fire is roaring.

so am wondering if there were workers who have/had been working on the exterior and something ignited...

With an old old building like that (about 800 years old), yikes...!!!

It was being renovated, as you can see from the scaffolding.

Where is the FD?

They comments are that this is where the fire started.

...some welding on the roof?

I'm guessing a small unnoticed smoldering hot spot in a debris pile turned into a ragging fire after closing time.

I wonder what happened?

Happens all the time here too. They are instructed not to do anything or call for help. Calling is a self-indictment.

Though it shows what kind of a punitive, litigious society we have turned into.

Buildings like this belong to the world and it is a loss for all of us.

I truly hope that they get in under control quickly.

It is one of the greats

History disappearing, right before our very eyes.

This is heartbreaking.

I would have been going to Paris the day after Easter Sunday.

Thanks Mr. President.

So he can go fight it single-handedly?

Yeah… that might work…

(Depending on what you want to accomplish.)

It's out of control.

How horrible. The fire looks bad. I hope it can be contained, and quickly. The loss of this beautiful treasure would be devastating.

Holy shit

This is horrible.

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...it will be rebuilt.

Every centimeter of such historic buildings have been surveyed and recorded in case of just such an eventuality. It may take decades, but it will eventually return. (Also, keep in mind that it has been damaged and rebuilt many times over the centuries. In fact, the spire that just fell in is only about 170 years old.) The major devastation will be the loss of precious art from the interior. Pretty much all the stained glass will be gone as well; they can create replacements, but there will likely always be a “Colonial Williamsburg” feel to them – obviously modern-day versions of lost old art.

I believe it is gone.

Shocking and heartbreaking...to think it most likely is gone.

Had to stop watching the live coverage because it was too upsetting. I keep thinking about all the art, the beams and stained glass, the gargoyles, the water damage to whatever doesn't burn ...
This is a devastating blow. There have been so many in recent years, not to be overly dramatic, but it feels like the world is slowly crumbling around us. It's getting difficult to bear it all.

Imagine being the construction worker(s) responsible for burning down one of the most iconic building in the history of humanity.

Just awful!!! The achievements and knowledge of humanity's past are fragile and precious.

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Thank you for this news

but heaven help the yellow jackets if they did this. This is eactly the sort of crap that can be used against macros and the muslims, and a certain russian would LOVE that.

Yes, this is a great loss for all humanity: the folks in the churches, synagouges, mosques and the Buddhist temples know that this is a loss for the world.n.

As I said, heaven help whoever did this, especially if it is a certain Russian.

and if marine Le Pen tries to exploit this, may she burn..

Does that make them part of the Yellow Jacket movement?

we cannot rule it out

I'm speculating it was a boneheaded construction mistake; welding or grinding started a smoldering hot spot in a debris pile that didn't ignite until the workers left for the day.

Also believing much can be saved. It's made of stone, stained glass can be replaced, structure of Gothic cathedrals is on the outside. At the end of WWII, there were few cathedrals in Europe that, if not bombed directly, all were missing their roof. The great loss of Notre Dame was its age, almost a millennium old.

and the water they shot up there only exasperated the situation. It's going to be a herculean task to restore and rebuild what's left.

Last edited Mon Apr 15, 2019, 06:00 PM - Edit history (1)

but on Gothic cathedrals most of the weight of the building is not structurally carried by the walls but by the flying buttresses on the outside. Still any building that old and such an ambitious structure build at that early a stage of architecture will have serious masonry problems. Many European cathedrals after WWII were able to be restored. Cologne was bombed 16 times. But not as old as Notre Dame, much of which however was extensively rebuilt in the 19th C.

The firefighters now are trying to salvage historic objects stored in the church.

Last edited Mon Apr 15, 2019, 04:09 PM - Edit history (1)

Where are the helicopters with the huge buckets of water? It seems to me in watching the coverage that not enough fire control is being use.*

Update: Now being reported that fears of dropping huge buckets of water would cause a weaking of the walls. (The stone walls will not burn.)

This is horrible. Notre Dame Cathedral is an iconic piece of architecture and art. This old atheist is grieving its demise.

😪


*Omg, just read that tRump said much the same.

sending flaming debris everywhere into the surrounding city.

There was a nun's funeral in progress & the massive, intricately carved wooden grill doors to the main vestibule were closed. Tons of tourists were crowded together, trying to get a glimpse of the service, when someone's camera announced, "Too dark. Use flash," and continued to repeat the command until the owner could stop it.

That moment, when everyone tried so hard not to laugh, always stays with me because state-of-the-art technology was disturbing @900 years of art and architecture that symbolized glory to God.

This is a truly sad day.

They do not believe they can save the cathedral.

I am hearing that due to how narrow the streets are and how the cathedral sits on an island, that fighting this fire is next to impossible.

from wikipedia:

and the vaulted ceilings under them survived, except where the spire fell through. So it was probably just a matter of time before all that wood was replaced anyway, for just this reason.

Still, it's a heartbreak, for sure.

My second visit to Paris, in the company of five other writers and poets. We rose early on Sunday morning to catch the plainsong Mass at Notre Dame. A being who looked and sounded like an angel sang the Mass.

I am an atheist, but I count that Sunday morning, in the company of my dearest friends, as a spiritual highlight of my life.

No words.

the people of Paris and the world. (Paris is our favorite city other than San Francisco, where we live.) One of her FB "friends" felt compelled to respond that what's happening at the Texas border is much worse, and Notre Dame is "only" a building, so it can be rebuilt.

My older daughter's life is devoted to advancing the rights of domestic workers (most of them immigrants, documented and not) and people with disabilities... and in helping elect people (Democrats) and support policies that will end the current evil situation at the border and prevent similar situations in the future. She deleted the "friend's" comment.

It seems such a failure of imagination... or heart ... or something... to be unable to understand (at all) the impact of the loss of such a beloved, glorious, iconic treasure to the people of Paris-- and to the rest of us-- and also to fail to understand that this feeling of devastating loss doesn't diminish our concerns about other current events.

At any rate, I didn't wake up today worried that Notre Dame would be burned out of existence. That was inconceivable. We stayed quite close to Notre Dame on our 2017 (spring) trip, in a lively neighborhood on the Left Bank. This was our first family trip in years, and the first time our two youngest kids had been to Paris. It was such a great (and needed!) escape from the shit-show unfolding back home. I just want to rewind this day... and replay with the devastating and unbelievable loss part edited out. Can't stop crying...

Linked from https://twitter.com/DavidAvromBell

This is why aircrafts can’t be used. Appalled by people criticising the fire brigade, as men are risking their life for a monument @PompiersParis deserves our greatest respect #Notredame

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Hundreds of firemen of the Paris Fire Brigade are doing everything they can to bring the terrible #NotreDame fire under control. All means are being used, except for water-bombing aircrafts which, if used, could lead to the collapse of the entire structure of the cathedral.

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Horrifying! Studied the art in there in college, as well as, the art that is the building itself. The history is incredible.

Macron says they will rebuild, but you can't replace parts of a 13th century building. It is a great loss for the world.