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While the fire of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral - experienced as an international tragedy - was completely extinguished Tuesday morning, the question of rebuilding the mutilated building is already acute.
" The whole fire is off. The phase is now expertise, "said Gabriel Plus, spokesman for the Paris fire brigade, in the early hours of the morning, saying that the" violent fire "had occurred. " Propagated very quickly to the entire roof of about 1,000 m2 ". It is now a question of monitoring the structures, their movement and extinguishing any residual foci, he explained, indicating that part of the vault had collapsed in the central nave and that 100 firefighters " are still engaged and will remain so all day .
Twelve surviving monumental statues
To the astonishment of the walkers who arrived in the early morning while the sky was lit up above the towers, the disaster was finally not very visible from the ground outside: the large rose window stained glass windows on the south side, Seine side, is intact. However, a gaping door reveals a heap of blackened rubble, beams of the collapsed frame, noted an AFP journalist. These are the aerial views that allow to measure the damage, especially at the level of the roof, which was mostly destroyed.
The twelve monumental statues that adorned the roof of Notre-Dame escaped the disaster just arrived last week near Périgueux (south-west) to be restored, but the reliquary cock of the top of the arrow melted before they could take the same path. The " material balance is dramatic " warned the firefighters: " the entire roof is damaged, the entire structure is destroyed, part of the vault collapsed, " said one of their spokesman , and the spire that overhung this gothic jewel from its height of 93 meters no longer exists, collapsed in the early evening under the eyes of the stunned crowd. The human toll shows a serious wounded reported in the ranks of fire soldiers.
Supply difficulties in oak wood
The Charlois group, the leading French producer of oak wood, will donate in kind for the rebuilding of the Notre-Dame fireworks. Its leader says he is " worried about the availability of wood " to rebuild the cathedral. " Beyond the donation, I'm worried about the availability of wood that will make this framework again, " said Tuesday to AFP Sylvain Charlois reached by phone, saying that " there is no stock in France already sawn timber available for such a project ". According to him, it took 1,300 oaks to build the frame eight centuries ago, which equates to " at least 3,000 cubic meters of wood ".
( with AFP )