Notre Dame - On Fire

still-one

still-one

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It is so sad to see this historic and beautiful structure being consumed by fire. What a loss for both Paris and the world.

190415151211-22-notre-dame-fire-0415-exlarge-tease.jpg
 
Yes.....it saddens me........A world loss........one thing which I can’t rap my head around is why were there no helicopters dropping water/ fire retardant chemicals......
 
mep said:
It took two hours from the time the fire started before the first drops of water hit the cathedral.
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Since here are photos showing streams of water directed at the Cathedral somewhat earlier than that, I am guessing that is not accurate.

The Spire fell 1 hour after the fire started about 6:55 local time. As you can see from this photo water was being used before it fell.

46fecac7-b2b8-4814-a5c4-d9b3b5165de1.jpg
 
I feel like there is a small part of humanity’s soul being lost. I feel sad for the French people. Hopefully it’s accidental and not like the deliberate destruction of ancient sites which are considered crimes against humanity.
 
still-one said:
Apparently they had very good reasons why they could not "drop" water. Geez, some people just jump to conclusions.
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Yes, I have heard that the sheer weight and impact of any airborne water drop (talking about literally tons of water *at once* and at high speed) could have caused catastrophic collapse and could have pushed the fire elsewhere in the cathedral.

The main stone structure of the cathedral is preserved. An airborne water drop could have had a drastically different outcome.
 
What a tragic loss for the world. It is amazing that there has already been $700 million in private donations committed to the reconstruction project.
 
Al M. said:
Yes, I have heard that the sheer weight and impact of any airborne water drop (talking about literally tons of water *at once* and at high speed) could have caused catastrophic collapse and could have pushed the fire elsewhere in the cathedral.

The main stone structure of the cathedral is preserved. An airborne water drop could have had a drastically different outcome.
Click to expand...

As I said:

https://au.news.yahoo.com/amphtml/t...e-risible-says-fire-chief-123834246--spt.html

"Everything would have collapsed," said Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Bernier, a fire chief who speaks for the national civil defence organisation and who described the suggestion as "risible".

Releasing even one load from a Canadair water bomber used to fight forest fires on Notre-Dame would be "the equivalent of dropping three tonnes of concrete at 250 kilometres per hour (155mph)" on the ancient monument.

"It would have been like bowling with the cathedral... the two towers might have fallen.

"It was technically impossible, undoable and most of all would have been utterly useless" to douse the flames from the air, Bernier added.

In fact, dropping a 6,300-litre (1,664-gallon) load from a Canadair water bomber would have put the lives of firefighters and anyone in the area at risk, he added.

"Neighbouring buildings would have been hit by flying blocks of hot stone, and the whole area would have had to be evacuated."

With more than 500 firefighters already at the scene -- many within the building -- that would have been impossible.

Even using a helicopter to drop 1,500 litres of water would have left only the towers standing, Bernier insisted.

"The nave would have collapsed, the flying buttresses would have gone," he said.

"If a plane had been used the whole of the structure might have tumbled."
 
The firefighters did an excellent job.

The fire was an accident. It might have been an electrical problem in an elevator below/in the spire ...
• https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/n...ame-fire-cause-today-2019-04-17-live-updates/

The architecture of Notre Dame Cathedral is grandísimo.
Already $1 billion is secured for its reconstruction, from some seriously generous billionaires and more.

The more I learn about its history, culture, arts, ...the more I discover the light that animates the heart of French Parisians.
 
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