Notre Dame is burning.

I also keep thinking of the scene in Ken Follett's "Pillars of the Earth" where the young man goes up into the roof of the cathedral and sets fire to it. That made it clear that inside the roof would be the best place to do that.

That said, I'm pretty confident it was an accident.
 
Aerides said:
AP is reporting that Paris prosecutors have 50 investigators on it, and expect the full inquiry will be long and complex.
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Our best investigators are on the case...
 

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braumeister said:
That said, I'm pretty confident it was an accident.
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I'm not as confident. 875 churches in France were burned or vandalized in 2018. And, it's increasing.

That being said, I'll wait until the investigation is complete before deciding.
 
I too watched in stunned silence as Notre Dame was burning yesterday and went to bed very disheartened as the Fire Chief had said they would be unable to put it out. I tried to find my pictures of it from my visit back in the 80's. Am so relieved much of it was salvaged.
The articles of the other churches that have been burned is more than a disturbing trend. But like many here, I will wait for the final report.
 
braumeister said:
I also keep thinking of the scene in Ken Follett's "Pillars of the Earth" where the young man goes up into the roof of the cathedral and sets fire to it. That made it clear that inside the roof would be the best place to do that.

That said, I'm pretty confident it was an accident.
Click to expand...

It was Ken Follett's "Pillars of the Earth" and subsequent "World Without End" I kept thinking about yesterday in terms of how these cathedrals were painstakingly built!

The only other thing I can say for now is that everyone working on the restoration knew it was 800 year old dry wood-52 acres of trees used to build that roof/nave, etc.

I'd be interested to know what if any precautions were made NOT to set it on fire!
 
W2R said:
I found this photo too!!! WOW!!! There it is, that window in all its glory amid the rubble. What a miracle.
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Wish I knew how to post a recording of the Marseillaise.
 
gerntz said:
Wish I knew how to post a recording of the Marseillaise.
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Perfect comment! That's exactly how I feel, too. What a miracle that that window survived intact, what joy, what a victory over that fire.

"Allons enfants de la patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé !"

attachment.php
 
Was the roof that burned the original from the 1300s or so? I know the spire was later redone, so figured the roof was too.
 
One piece of good news is that a friend of mine built a detailed 3D digital model of Notre Dame that they were already using for remodeling, so there is an accurate record of everything, all the way down to the nails & pegs. Macron is calling for a rebuild within 5 years because of that model.
Andy is dead, now, but I'm sure he'd be pleased that his work has become so important to the entire world.
 
catii said:
One piece of good news is that a friend of mine built a detailed 3D digital model of Notre Dame that they were already using for remodeling, so there is an accurate record of everything, all the way down to the nails & pegs. Macron is calling for a rebuild within 5 years because of that model.
Andy is dead, now, but I'm sure he'd be pleased that his work has become so important to the entire world.
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Oh wow! Awesome that the powers that be have this 3-D rendering your friend Andy did!
 
Sunset said:
Yes the main roof part was from around the 1300 AD , the spire was added about 200 yrs ago.
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As I understand, the thick timbers used to support the roof don't exist in France anymore as they each came from a single 400+ years old tree. But, don't know why they couldn't use laminates today covered with veneer pieces. I mean who can tell from 200' below?
 
gerntz said:
As I understand, the thick timbers used to support the roof don't exist in France anymore as they each came from a single 400+ years old tree. But, don't know why they couldn't use laminates today covered with veneer pieces. I mean who can tell from 200' below?
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I'll bet the new roof structure will be constructed of noncombustible material, probably steel. Subdividing the attic into smaller fire areas by rated walls and installation of a sprinkler system are also musts; according to the New York Times (behind a paywall, probably) these features had been retrofitted in other cathedrals in Europe and Britain, but not at Notre Dame.
 
Sunset said:
Yes the main roof part was from around the 1300 AD , the spire was added about 200 yrs ago.
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I think the building codes were made a lot stricter about the time the spire was added.
 
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gerntz said:
As I understand, the thick timbers used to support the roof don't exist in France anymore as they each came from a single 400+ years old tree. But, don't know why they couldn't use laminates today covered with veneer pieces. I mean who can tell from 200' below?
Click to expand...

Yep, just like getting the DW a cubic zirconium instead of a diamond, after all how many times is she going to cut glass with her ring ;)
 
They just arrested a guy trying to enter St. Patricks cathedral in NY. He had 2 cans of gasoline with him (4gallons), 2 cans of lighter fluid and 2 butane lighters.
I read about it in the Washington times.
 
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