quote:

Originally posted by BansheeOne:

quote:

Originally posted by BamaJeepster:
To give an idea of the wooden framing in Notre Dame.

That certainly gives an idea.

Paris fire service just stated that the next 60-90 minutes will decide whether Notre Dame can be saved.

After seeing the pics of the framing, my guess is no way it's going to be 'saved'. I guess it depends on the definition, but with that much old timber superheated and burning, there may be a shell left, but I doubt much more than that.

"Superheated" indeed. Someone with technical knowledge might tell us what kind of temps we are looking at....

A distant view of the cathedral, from 1999:
W19-xx by David Casteel, on Flickr

And a few from 2012:

11-06 Notre Dame Cathedral by David Casteel, on Flickr


12-12 Notre Dame Cathedral by David Casteel, on Flickr


12-14 Notre Dame Cathedral by David Casteel, on Flickr


12-28 Notre Dame Cathedral by David Casteel, on Flickr

flashguy

It is 10:30 pm in Paris

French fire services say they are "not sure" if Notre-Dame fire can be stopped



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quote:

Originally posted by navyshooter:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by matai:
Real shame

I was just at St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC. Does anybody know how that compares to the Notre Dame?

Notre Dame is roughly 700 years older.

I don't know if they are built similarly - they are both fundamentally stone structures.

Speaking of which, if everything wooden burns up, wouldn't the stone remain, perhaps not too badly damaged?

Fire Damaged Stone Structures in Historical Monuments

Thanks. Cool.

I wonder if they are taking any precautions to avoid the fire spreading to Sainte Chapelle, very nearby.

flashguy

Maybe some people did something.

A construction accident wouldn’t surprise me. As someone who runs a construction company, it amazes me how “low bid” wins. I see it all the time. Hospitals will hire the low bidder, not the best. Think about that next time you have them hook you up in the ER. The medical gas systems were done by the cheapest guy. Refineries, chemical plants...you name, cheap guy gets picked.

I’d wager this was no different. Cheapest guy got the work. Hope it was worth it.

This makes me sick to see. Such an important site for all of us in the world and for Catholics especially.

PASig - that aerial shot is amazing, and disappointing.

Banner on that feed said "Main structure saved and preserved from fire." How can that even be close to accurate when they don't appear to have gained much control? I guess it's how you define "main structure?"

The very next line said nearby residents evacuated in case of collapse of cathedral....

eta - after seeing Bama's pic, unless that is photoshopped, that's not exactly out.

It sounds like they are confident that they will at least be able to save the towers.

I never imagined I'd ever see this.

If, as Crom put it, "maybe some people did something," this will be the French 9/11. Not the loss of life, but nevertheless a deep wound to heart and soul of a nation.

On the other hand, the French have not been exactly hardliners with their radical Muslim population, so they might just never find any evidence of foul play. This will then just be a "tragic accident."

Heartbreaking. Just heartbreaking.

Our family visited there a couple summers ago, and came away with a sense of awe and pride at what man had built, both inside the structure and out...what a religious, historical, and cultural loss. That drone photo provided by BamaJeepster really suggests there'll tragically be little left when all is said and done.

I read on another site (so it must be true) that the fire started 5 minutes after visiting hours ended.

I'm quite surprised they haven't had a cascading failure of the exterior walls yet given the amount of heat on the inner surfaces

they literally had acres of 800 year old dry timber inside

and here's the question I haven't seen anyone ask yet

the fire starts 5 minutes after its closed to the public - were there no custodial staff or caretakers inside that could have put out what was supposed to be a very small fire or did everyone just walk away?

that doesn't seem normal that they would all just walk away at exactly the same time

Truly a shame.

Every contractor on that job along with their insurance carriers are not getting any sleep tonight. I highly doubt that any of the contractors are insured for what it will take to rebuild (if that's even an option). I suspect the church has an insurance policy on the building. I'm guessing there was not a sprinkler system retrofitted either. Hindsight is always 20/20, but would imagine that one would have been installed at some point.

sad day for humankind



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quote:

Originally posted by c1steve:
I read on another site (so it must be true) that the fire started 5 minutes after visiting hours ended.

Bottom of page two:

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
And consider this. The fire reportedly started around 1850. Visiting hours ends at 1845...