Breaking news - Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on fire

[Surly Bevo 24908]

Was just looking through all my pictures, especially those of the things inside....just fucking sad to lose all that.  And yea at some point you wonder if stone doesn't start to crumble as other things collapse

[Ghost of LL 15531]

I'm glad my kids got to see it when we went to Paris last fall.  I'm sure they'll rebuild, but it'll probably take 30 years for the reconstruction.  Maybe they'll be able to take their kids to see the rebuilt cathedral; I suspect I never will.

[midtown 3345]

Saw a tweet that said they are focusing on saving what art they can now. 

20 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I felt similarly when the Taliban blew up the giant Buddha statues -- just watching a priceless work of our greater humanity being destroyed, and being helpless to stop it, just fucking sucks.

I thought about this too.

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19100]

Just an absolute tragedy all around.  The documents and history that we are losing right now is horrific.  

[gecko 1104]

Surprised that the work scaffolding has survived this long

[mdmost 42997]

ABC News showing a shot with firefighters spraying out of the bell tower area into the middle. I would think it's now a race to contain it to the middle so it doesn't spread to the bell towers and surrounding buildings. Though it seems the right tower has flames at or near it. 

[Trey3216 15343]

It also looks like the metallic scaffolding is starting to bow from the heat.  When that goes, it's going to expedite the stone structure's collapse.  

[Brisketexan 105041]

Just now, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

Just an absolute tragedy all around.  The documents and history that we are losing right now is horrific.  

We are ephemeral fucking creatures.  Even our greatest works can, literally, go up in smoke.  I'm sure I'll be able to philosophize on this in much greater detail after the smoke clears.  But for now, just the loss and helplessness -- fuck.

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19100]

 

4 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

At this point, the structural integrity of the stone structure seems pretty questionable.  We might lose the whole thing.

 

2 minutes ago, Trey3216 said:

I'm afraid that's the case.  The flying buttresses, which support the weight of the roof and the internal wooden frame, will eventually collapse inward and take the stone structure down.  

This is what I am afriad of.  If it goes, this would be a hole in the heart of Paris.  

[Longhorn94 2448]

We were just there three weeks ago. My wife, son and I had an inspired and solemn visit. I am heartbroken I wont be able to take my other kids to see what we saw.

 

It looks like they stopped the fire from reaching the bell towers. 

[EuroHorn 3250]

Hopefully they can rebuild and retain some of the artifacts and wood structures inside.  At least make it a hybrid of the original would be better than nothing.

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19100]

1 minute ago, mdmost said:

ABC News showing a shot with firefighters spraying out of the bell tower area into the middle. I would think it's now a race to contain it to the middle so it doesn't spread to the bell towers and surrounding buildings. Though it seems the right tower has flames at or near it. 

It looks like flames are in that northern bell tower.

[Telegraph_it 3357]

Bell tower on fire now?

 

[gecko 1104]

Yup...tower is involved now. Wow...

[Celery Man 20929]

one of the pillars is lit.  fuck, man

[FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2652]

This is horrible. One of the worse things I have ever seen 

[Brisketexan 105041]

Just now, Celery Man said:

one of the pillars is lit.  fuck, man

We're going to lose the whole damned thing.

Reminds me of Coventry....

If we're lucky, we'll keep some of the walls.

[DaysOff 7943]

Won't be rebuilt in our lifetime.

[Wally Fairway 5539]

49 minutes ago, El Diablo said:

Any chance of this thing spreading to South Bend?

That would qualify as a dumpster fire, and if Notre Dame, IN were to burn people would gather with long forks, graham crakers, chocolate bars and marshmallows
(sorry for offending any Irish fans - what a juxtaposition the French Fighting Irish)

[Bama Chick 28596]

God I’ve been in a meeting since 10 AM and I’m just now seeing all this.

What a tragedy. I feel sick about it.

[Spankytoes 1739]

Been there many times. Was lucky enough to take my youngest last summer. Wife and I are going this Labor Day since she hasn't been since 1998. Paris is not my cup of tea, but this is a loss. Best photos of Paris from the top and best scenery taking photos from the Seine. 

[Rimbo 25908]

imgur

I laughed. Couldn't help myself.

[midtown 3345]

Cue all the fb posts with pictures of the cathedral burning and quotes about god testing peoples faiths etc. 

[WashHorn 121]

From our recent trip...

Edited April 15, 2019 by WashHorn
embed

[Ghost of LL 15531]

7 minutes ago, gecko said:

Yup...tower is involved now. Wow...

I don't think either tower aflame.  There appear to be firefighters shooting water out of the right tower into the nave.  I don't think they'd be doing that if either tower were on fire (and I don't think you've have firefighters up there at all if there was imminent danger that they'd go up).

[wood 11225]

21 minutes ago, GRHorn said:

What a horrible loss. How can they let one of their national monuments burn to the ground? Yes, it’s on an island, but it’s really just gonna burn itself out. Damn 

 

20 minutes ago, Hawndoh said:

Fire is powerful. They didn't "let" it happen. It just happened. 

Exactly. They aren't just 'letting it happen'. There's just really not much they can do. Sometimes firefighters roll up on a fire that they know from the very beginning is way too big for them to handle or even make a dent in. It happens, esp with older structures, even old structures that are much, much younger than this one.

13 minutes ago, GRHorn said:

I don’t know I’m not there. I’m just surprised they haven’t been able to get it under control. How often do we see a massive building burn completely nowadays? Much less one of such importance. 

Did you see how big the fire  was just a little while ago?

[gecko 1104]

I do t know ghost....current images are not promising

[Rimbo 25908]

2 minutes ago, midtown said:

Cue all the fb posts with pictures of the cathedral burning and quotes about god testing peoples faiths etc. 

I am so glad I left that dumpster fire of a website behind.

Police are saying it was a work accident, an electrical short. Geez. If I were that guy, I'd have left the country by now.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

Supposedly the cathedral was built on the location of another church that was a few hundred years old.  While it’s a shame to see a big piece of human history and art go up in flames, it’s a sobering reminder that nothing lasts forever.  

[clapclapclap 9000]

 

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19100]

Towers look better now.

[bolverk 29644]

Those questioning how they couldn't get it under control don't understand how absolutely massive it is. Those towers each are like small skyscrapers at 226 feet tall. Looking it up makes them almost exactly the height of the Westgate Tower next to the Capitol in Austin. The whole thing was just overwhelmingly enormous, which was sort of the point. It built to cause awe and wonder and, man, it was really effective. 

[mdmost 42997]

Current view looks like the towers are not as big in danger if they can keep the fire in the naive. 

[Rimbo 25908]

2 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Supposedly the cathedral was built on the location of another church that was a few hundred years old.  While it’s a shame to see a big piece of human history and art go up in flames, it’s a sobering reminder that nothing lasts forever.  

Church as we know it was finished in the 1300s. Seven hundred years and all those wars...

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19100]

If they get the fire put out, they will have to work quickly to get things in to support the outer walls.

[DaysOff 7943]

I'd wager a frenchie and a cigarette butt not an electrical mishap.

[wood 11225]

6 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Those questioning how they couldn't get it under control don't understand how absolutely massive it is. Those towers each are like small skyscrapers at 226 feet tall. Looking it up makes them almost exactly the height of the Westgate Tower next to the Capitol in Austin. The whole thing was just overwhelmingly enormous, which was sort of the point. It built to cause awe and wonder and, man, it was really effective. 

All of this ... and I guarantee you the Paris Fire Dept knew very well that, should a fire really get going inside the church, there's just not much they would be able to do about it.

Edited April 15, 2019 by wood

[phdhorn 6224]

As a music major, I studied Notre Dame pretty extensively, because it was paramount to the development of Western tonal music.  This is where for all intents and purposes polyphonic music emerged (that's anything that's not a single chanted line.  The music you're listening to today would not exist if it weren't for Notre Dame.

Same goes with so much art and culture that influenced just about everything else.  Notre Dame is more than a church; it's the lifeblood of much of what makes us human instead of mere animal beings.

God damn this is tragic.  

If it's any backdoor consolation (and it's not), a lot of artwork and stuff was destroyed in the citywide riot which goes by the more austere name of the French Revolution.  The cathedral was almost a dumpy afterthought until Hugo's novel in 1853, then it began a long Renaissance of recovery, the last vestiges where a huge exterior cleaning to turn it from its basic black (centuries of soot) to its uplifting off-white sheen (and now this latest restoration, whatever it is).

It's not like everything in it is from the 1250 or so; a lot of stuff is a lot newer, and a lot of stuff replaced (especially by the stupid fucks who tried to secularize it during the Revolution, including busting up all of the statues outside the West Facade, dumbfucks).  But there is so much identity tied up in this thing it's like some of humanity collapsed today with it.

Just a terrible, terrible thing.

[HiggyBaby 2528]

She gone. Damn shame. Visited last year.

[Brisketexan 105041]

Just now, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

If they get the fire put out, they will have to work quickly to get things in to support the outer walls.

IF...IF they can get it out without the walls falling.....absolutely.  It's going to be a massive, short-fuse engineering project.  But, some things are worth saving.  Indeed, sending the message that our collective cultural heritage is worth saving is important.  They are symbols of our humanity, and humanity -- all of it -- matters.  Notre Dame, Palmyra, the Parthenon -- they belong to all of us.

Damn.

[bolverk 29644]

1 minute ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

If they get the fire put out, they will have to work quickly to get things in to support the outer walls.

Those flying buttresses were meant to exert force on the walls to keep them from splaying outward from underneath the weight of the roof. Maybe they don't push inward hard enough to make the walls collapse toward the interior, but I'm not hopeful.

It'll be a miracle if they can prevent the walls and belltowers from coming down.

[bolverk 29644]

1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

IF...IF they can get it out without the walls falling.....absolutely.  It's going to be a massive, short-fuse engineering project.  But, some things are worth saving.  Indeed, sending the message that our collective cultural heritage is worth saving is important.  They are symbols of our humanity, and humanity -- all of it -- matters.  Notre Dame, Palmyra, the Parthenon -- they belong to all of us.

Damn.

Absolutely all of this.

[phdhorn 6224]

15 minutes ago, Rimbo said:

 

 

I laughed. Couldn't help myself.

That is sort of darkly funny.  They could have just used this as well:

Edit:  Also just noticed that in Wikipedia on the dimensions of the spire height, it now says this:

Spire height	(formerly)[1] 90 metres (300 ft)

dayum, Wiki, you fast.  That's also sad as shit.

Edited April 15, 2019 by phdhorn

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19100]

Just now, Brisketexan said:

IF...IF they can get it out without the walls falling.....absolutely.  It's going to be a massive, short-fuse engineering project.  But, some things are worth saving.  Indeed, sending the message that our collective cultural heritage is worth saving is important.  They are symbols of our humanity, and humanity -- all of it -- matters.  Notre Dame, Palmyra, the Parthenon -- they belong to all of us.

Damn.

Agreed. If they get get it out without the walls collapsing.  I think at best we are at a 50/50 proposition.  I am just absolutely heartbroken.  Since I found out, I have been useless at work.

[NowThis 931]

8 minutes ago, clapclapclap said:

 

epic photo, thanks for that. 

don't the french have the bigass planes that dump the orange fire retardant? Or the water dumping helicopters? They really are slow at everything. 

Edited April 15, 2019 by NowThis

[Upgrayedd 5810]

1 minute ago, NowThis said:

epic photo, thanks for that. 

don't the french have the bigass planes that dump the orange fire retardant? Or the water dumping helicopters? They really are slow at everything. 

Can't tell if serious

[rpspeed 1360]

reporter on the ground on ABC just said the towers are safe at the moment

[wood 11225]

1 minute ago, NowThis said:

epic photo, thanks for that. 

don't the french have the bigass planes that dump the orange fire retardant? Or the water dumping helicopters? They really are slow at everything. 

Everyone is slow at mobilizing these aircraft, even if they happen to be in the area, which isn't likely. They aren't just sitting around everywhere. They're in areas where there are lots of forest fires.

[Nivek 16916]

Thoughts and Prayers?

[NowThis 931]

46 minutes ago, clapclapclap said:

Notre Dame was open to the public until 6:45pm.  French fire officials say the blaze started at 6:50pm.

https://6abc.com/paris-officials-notre-dame-cathedral-on-fire/5251285/

why open during major renovations? Just for safety , keep the public out.  Dumb French.