The fire has gotten bigger throughout the day in the iconic church which is being destroyed by the fire….
The church building was being renovated….
A fire broke out at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris on Monday evening, according to the French authorities and witnesses.
André Finot, a spokesman for the cathedral, said in a telephone interview that the spire of the cathedral had caught fire. The cause of the fire remained unknown, and there was no immediate indication that anyone had been hurt.
The fire alarm went off around 6:30 p.m., Mr. Finot said, adding that the cathedral had been evacuated.
Video filmed by onlookers and shared on social media showed smoke and flames billowing from the top of the cathedral, engulfing scaffolding and the spire.
Mayor Anne Hidalgo of Paris said on Twitter that “a terrible fire” had struck at the cathedral.
“The Paris firefighters are currently trying to stop the flames,” Ms. Hidalgo said. “I ask everyone to respect the security boundaries.”
Firefighters were on the scene, said Mr. Finot, who was about 70 feet away from the cathedral….
Update…
Promising the French people he would rebuild Notre-Dame, which he called “the epicenter of our lives,” President Macron canceled his speech about the Yellow Vests. He still plans to proceed with his proposals.
France today is wrestling with how to reinvent itself for a new age. Considering the great sweep of time, the current Yellow Vest uprising will no doubt come to seem like just another data point in the long evolution of a nation that has survived setbacks and returned, again and again, to an abiding glory….
…
Someday, the fire of 2019 may fade into the history of Notre-Dame. It may take many years to repair the damage.
But the great cathedral will reinvent itself, too.