A fire broke out at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris on Monday evening, destroying its spire and severely damaging its roof. What we know about the fire• 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.” The cathedral’s rector, Msgr. • 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.

Source: New York Times April 16, 2019 00:03 UTC