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Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on fire


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Just now, moreblack said:

What caused this?

No one knows as of yet, but they suspect it relates to the renovation efforts.

That said, the construction company in charge of the renovation says that none of its personnel were on site when the fire started.   

Will likely know for sure in the next few days or week.  

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2 minutes ago, downzy said:

No one knows as of yet, but they suspect it relates to the renovation efforts.

That said, the construction company in charge of the renovation says that none of its personnel were on site when the fire started.   

Will likely know for sure in the next few days or week.  

So foul play is not suspected then?

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Just now, moreblack said:

So foul play is not suspected then?

That's what the preliminary reports are saying.

Some have suggested it might have been due to a spark from a blowtorch that sparked the fire.  Apparently a fire can happen long after the initial spark.

We'll just have to wait and see.  

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I nearly burned someones house down like that once.  I was smoking a fag on someones bed listening to music, they usually locked this particular room cuz there was a lot of valuable shit in it, not that I was after any of their shit, I just wanted to listen to some tunes and the tape player was in there.  Anyway, so I'm listening to these tunes, smoking a fag and I knock the end of the fag off on the bed and brush it off, thinking I've conclusively brushed the shit off.  I was there another half an hour listening to tunes then I left, locking the door behind me and popping out for an errand...when I came back 40 or so minutes later they were just at the end of putting the fire out, apparently at its worst the whole bed was on fire and there was flames billowing out the window.  Whoops.  The bed had like, instead of proper bedding like this thin foam thing covered by 3 or 4 really thick blankets.  The shit must've been smouldering away in there or something, I dunno.

The point of this shit is fires can start in funny ways.

Edited by Len Cnut
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"[Victor] Hugo deplored the dilapidation of the structure but stood in awe of the palimpsest. There is “…often the universal history of humanity in the successive engrafting of many arts at many levels, upon the same monument,” he went on. “The man, the artist, the individual, is effaced in these great masses, which lack the name of their author; human intelligence is there summed up and totalized. Time is the architect, the nation is the builder.” In one way, then, the rebuilding that is surely to come is just one link in the long chain of additions and subtractions that preceded it. A big, big link that will take a long time to fill in. Late into the night in Paris, the lattice of scaffolding—part of ongoing work on the structure, and, perhaps, the source of the fire—stood high over the ruined church."

https://slate.com/business/2019/04/a-piece-of-paris-goes-up-in-flames.html

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53 minutes ago, downzy said:

"[Victor] Hugo deplored the dilapidation of the structure but stood in awe of the palimpsest. There is “…often the universal history of humanity in the successive engrafting of many arts at many levels, upon the same monument,” he went on. “The man, the artist, the individual, is effaced in these great masses, which lack the name of their author; human intelligence is there summed up and totalized. Time is the architect, the nation is the builder.” In one way, then, the rebuilding that is surely to come is just one link in the long chain of additions and subtractions that preceded it. A big, big link that will take a long time to fill in. Late into the night in Paris, the lattice of scaffolding—part of ongoing work on the structure, and, perhaps, the source of the fire—stood high over the ruined church."

https://slate.com/business/2019/04/a-piece-of-paris-goes-up-in-flames.html

I was saying almost the same thing to a co-worker earlier.   With the 300 million dollar donation that was raised for the restoration, they should be able to have a world-class restoration done...and this fire will become a part of Notre Dame's history. 

It helps tremendously that all (or most of all) the art work inside the cathedral was saved and the primary exterior walls were preserved.  It is now matter of top-level, professional restoration being done and with 300 million to work with, that should not be a problem.  

 

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the three incredible glass  rose windows, that date back to the 13th century, look to be unharmed.

seeing how utterly fragile this delicate glass is, it's a small miracle they survived.

not only is this glass 800 years old, it also survived the reformation, the french revolution, two world wars and an apocalyptic inferno.

I remember seeing these windows as an 8 year old kid, and I've never forgot that experience.

words can not imagine how happy I am that these windows survived. I guess this is a case of "I didn't know this was so important to me until it was almost gone".

Edited by action
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2 hours ago, Len Cnut said:

I nearly burned someones house down like that once.  I was smoking a fag on someones bed listening to music, they usually locked this particular room cuz there was a lot of valuable shit in it, not that I was after any of their shit, I just wanted to listen to some tunes and the tape player was in there.  Anyway, so I'm listening to these tunes, smoking a fag and I knock the end of the fag off on the bed and brush it off, thinking I've conclusively brushed the shit off.  I was there another half an hour listening to tunes then I left, locking the door behind me and popping out for an errand...when I came back 40 or so minutes later they were just at the end of putting the fire out, apparently at its worst the whole bed was on fire and there was flames billowing out the window.  Whoops.  The bed had like, instead of proper bedding like this thin foam thing covered by 3 or 4 really thick blankets.  The shit must've been smouldering away in there or something, I dunno.

The point of this shit is fires can start in funny ways.

When i was a kid i caught myself on fire. I had some windbreaker pants on and was messing around with a fire - those things went up like they were soaked in gasoline :lol:

Luckily no injuries other than light burns on my hands from putting out the fire on my pants.

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Really gutted for the people who worked, and volunteered there. They're out of jobs. 

I'm really in no mood for restoration talk. It will be a completely different building. Also, I'll be surprised if its complete within our lifetimes. Westminster Cathedral is still incomplete. 

I'm delighted that nobody was hurt and they saved the Blessed Sacrament among some bits and bobs.

I suppose I'm a bit moody at the moment as we've just had our second family bereavement since January. :lol:

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7 minutes ago, Graeme said:

I think it's sad, and I can understand that it's an exceptionally long-standing part of a city and a nation's consciousness and history, it's a tremendous piece of architecture and construction, it's a world-famous icon, a hugely popular tourist site. I've visited myself and have memories of climbing the spiral stairs, sitting beneath the bells and the view over Paris from its towers.

However, I do think that there's a complete lack of perspective on how relatively tragic this is in comparison to a lot of other terrible stuff that's going on in the world. If billionaires could sit up and suddenly pledge hundreds of millions of dollars to famine victims in Yemen, or plastic cleanup in the oceans the way they did for one building in a first-world capital city, that would probably be a far better use of their money.

I did feel a wee bit uneasy when that Croatian guy was being lynched for pointing this out a few pages ago, I thought the accusations towards him of being unfeeling were quite harsh when actually he was pointing out that there are far worse things happening with far less publicity and public outcry (although I accept that his way of doing it was quite blunt at a point where people seemed quite emotional and probably weren't ready to try and view the situation objectively).

Pretty much this. The thing that's amused (maybe not the best word) me is people making such a big deal over all the religious artefacts. I mean whoop de fuckin' do that they managed to rescue the rag that Jesus (fictional character) wiped his arse on. I mean you've lost the nails that they hammered him to the cross with? If you believe that was true in the first place I've got a lovely bag of magic beans top sell you. :lol: 

Edited by Dazey
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I'm optimistic that it can be restored well and authentically as the 13th century west facade is very much intact and much of the nave/chancel seems reasonably intact, albeit minus a ceiling. The spire tower which collapsed was only a mid 19th century reconstruction anyhow, made of an earlier medieval tower that had become derelict. 

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Tragic, as a word can (to me) cover many events. Be it people starving in third world countries, earthquakes, hurricane Idai, terrorism, the need for food banks in first world countries and yes, even beautiful historic buildings. I don't personally care about the religious aspect of Notre Dame but I feel sympathy for those that do. 

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20 minutes ago, Graeme said:

I think it's sad, and I can understand that it's an exceptionally long-standing part of a city and a nation's consciousness and history, it's a tremendous piece of architecture and construction, it's a world-famous icon, a hugely popular tourist site. I've visited myself and have memories of climbing the spiral stairs, sitting beneath the bells and the view over Paris from its towers.

However, I do think that there's a complete lack of perspective on how relatively tragic this is in comparison to a lot of other terrible stuff that's going on in the world. If billionaires could sit up and suddenly pledge hundreds of millions of dollars to famine victims in Yemen, or plastic cleanup in the oceans the way they did for one building in a first-world capital city, that would probably be a far better use of their money.

I did feel a wee bit uneasy when that Croatian guy was being lynched for pointing this out a few pages ago, I thought the accusations towards him of being unfeeling were quite harsh when actually he was pointing out that there are far worse things happening with far less publicity and public outcry (although I accept that his way of doing it was quite blunt at a point where people seemed quite emotional and probably weren't ready to try and view the situation objectively).

I can agree on Yemen but balls to that hippy crap.

I am surprised at you as Mary Queen of Scots was married at Notre-Dame to Francis II in the 1550s.

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2 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

I am surprised at you as Mary Queen of Scots was married at Notre-Dame to Francis II in the 1550s.

Well that makes all the difference! Let's give 'em a billion quid to fix the fucking roof then! :lol: 

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