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| What We Know and Don’t Know About the Notre-Dame Fire | What We Know and Don’t Know About the Notre-Dame Fire |
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| A fire broke out at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris on Monday evening, destroying its spire and severely damaging its roof. | A fire broke out at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris on Monday evening, destroying its spire and severely damaging its roof. |
| • More than 12 hours after the fire started in the cathedral’s attic, Gabriel Plus, a spokesman for the Paris firefighters declared on Tuesday: “The entire fire is out.” | |
| • Rémy Heitz, a Paris prosecutor, said on Tuesday that a first fire alarm was triggered at 6:20 p.m. Monday, but that no fire was found after checks were carried out. The cathedral’s rector, Msgr. Patrick Chauvet, told the radio station France Inter that the cathedral had fire monitors who checked under the wooden roof three times a day. | |
| • A second alarm was triggered at 6:43 p.m., and a fire was found in the roof’s wooden framework. Mr. Heitz said that investigators were working off the hypothesis that the fire was an accident. | |
| • No one was killed, officials said, but a firefighter and two police officers were injured. | • No one was killed, officials said, but a firefighter and two police officers were injured. |
| • The doors of the cathedral shut just before a last rush of tourists tried to get inside, witnesses said, and not long afterward smoke could be seen rising from the spire. Video showed that scaffolding around the base of the spire, part of extensive renovations that were underway, was one of the first places to visibly catch fire. | • The doors of the cathedral shut just before a last rush of tourists tried to get inside, witnesses said, and not long afterward smoke could be seen rising from the spire. Video showed that scaffolding around the base of the spire, part of extensive renovations that were underway, was one of the first places to visibly catch fire. |
| • Around 500 firefighters were deployed to Île de la Cité, the island in the heart of the city where Notre-Dame is situated, and they battled to control the fire for nearly five hours. | • Around 500 firefighters were deployed to Île de la Cité, the island in the heart of the city where Notre-Dame is situated, and they battled to control the fire for nearly five hours. |
| • By 11 p.m. Monday, the Paris fire chief, Jean-Claude Gallet said that the structure, including its two front towers, had been “saved and preserved as a whole,” but that two-thirds of the roof had been destroyed. | |
| • “The worst has been avoided even though the battle is not completely won,” President Emmanuel Macron of France said, adding that he would start a national funding campaign to help rebuild the cathedral. | |
| • The 295-foot spire, a wood-frame structure covered in lead that was built when the cathedral was renovated in the 19th century, appeared to be destroyed: After its partial collapse, the fire consumed much of the roof where the spire had stood. | • The 295-foot spire, a wood-frame structure covered in lead that was built when the cathedral was renovated in the 19th century, appeared to be destroyed: After its partial collapse, the fire consumed much of the roof where the spire had stood. |
| • Some of the cathedral’s art may have been saved because of recent renovations. Last week, for instance, 16 copper statues representing the Twelve Apostles and four evangelists were removed with a crane so that the spire could be renovated. | • Some of the cathedral’s art may have been saved because of recent renovations. Last week, for instance, 16 copper statues representing the Twelve Apostles and four evangelists were removed with a crane so that the spire could be renovated. |
| • Firefighters were able to save some of the cathedral’s artworks, including linen fabric associated with St. Louis, the crown of thorns and the cathedral’s treasury, according to Monsignor Chauvet. “A good number of priceless collections were saved and brought to safety,” said Lt. Col. José Vaz de Matos, an official who inspects France’s national monuments. He said that there were still several large pieces of art inside, “some of which have been affected by the fire but that can be restored,” but that teams could not be sent in at this juncture. | |
| [Read more about the crown of thorns and other relics and artifacts at Notre-Dame.] | [Read more about the crown of thorns and other relics and artifacts at Notre-Dame.] |
| • Mr. Gallet said firefighters were still rescuing artworks in the building hours after the fire had started, and that the main risk to them was smoke within the cathedral and the fall of materials, including melting lead. | • Mr. Gallet said firefighters were still rescuing artworks in the building hours after the fire had started, and that the main risk to them was smoke within the cathedral and the fall of materials, including melting lead. |
| • The billionaire Pinault family of France has already pledged 100 million euros, or about $113 million, to the reconstruction effort, Agence-France Presse reported, and the family of Bernard Arnault, owners of the luxury goods group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, plan to contribute €200 million. | |
| [Notre-Dame Fire Photos: Despair and Grief Amid Smoke and Flame.] | [Notre-Dame Fire Photos: Despair and Grief Amid Smoke and Flame.] |
| • The cause of the fire remains unknown. | • The cause of the fire remains unknown. |
| • The condition of many works, inside the cathedral and part of its structure, remains unknown. The flames threatened to melt the cathedral’s three huge stained-glass windows, for instance, and could have destroyed or damaged the church’s three organs and dozens of paintings and sculptures, some dating from the 17th century. | |
| • Many parts of the structure were already damaged and in need of restoration: Broken gargoyles and fallen balustrades had been replaced by plastic pipes and wooden planks. Such areas may have been particularly vulnerable to the flames and falling debris. | • Many parts of the structure were already damaged and in need of restoration: Broken gargoyles and fallen balustrades had been replaced by plastic pipes and wooden planks. Such areas may have been particularly vulnerable to the flames and falling debris. |