Notre Dame fire: Cathedral blaze 'being treated as an accident' as firefighters continue to fight flames – as it happened
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Your support makes all the difference.The Notre-Dame in Paris has been devastated after a fire ripped through its roof and burnt large parts of the cathedral.
The medieval roof of the cathedral was almost entirely destroyed but photographs from inside show that much of the structure remained intact, after an hours-long firefighting mission.
One firefighter was reported to have been seriously injured in the blaze. The sacred objects and artwork stored in the cathedral were secured.
Emmanuel Macron has committed to rebuild the cathedral, and has promised an international fundraising effort to restore it to its previous state.
While the cause of the fire is still unclear, authorities said they were believed it to have been started by accident.
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The Vatican says it is shocked and saddened by the news.
"The terrible news of the fire that has devastated the cathedral of Notre Dame, symbol of Christianity in France and in the world, was received in the Holy See with shock and sadness," spokesperson Alessandro Gisotti said in a statement.
"We express our closeness to French Catholics and to the people of Paris and we assure our prayers for the fire fighters and all those who are doing everything possible deal with this dramatic situation," he said.
Reuters reports a firefighter at the scene says "all efforts are now being directed to saving the artwork at the back of the cathedral".
Earlier reports had suggested the artwork was safe.
Firefighters are also directing their efforts at trying to save the northern tower, Reuters reports. That's one of the two iconic rectangular towers, into which the fire was reported to have spread some time ago.
The fire brigade being unable to drop water from the air means that the only approach they have is to spray it from the ground. Those attempts can be seen here, with sparks flying across the air as water hits the cathedral.
A group of Americans from Maine had just finished visiting Notre Dame Cathedral and were in a nearby park when they heard it was on fire.
Freeport resident Lucy Soule, 22, said it was "weird" having been in the church right before this happened. "Now you can smell it burning."
Soule and her father, Win Soule, 58, and Libby Heselton, 53, are on a weeklong trip to Paris where they planned to "see all the sights" and had just finished their visit to Notre Dame. They had been in the cathedral at 5:30 p.m., about an hour before the fire.
Win told The Associated Press "Now I feel sorry for the people tomorrow. They won't be able to see it."
He says "it's incredible. I'm not religious, but this is clearly very important to a lot of people."
The fire chief in Paris says it's unclear if city firefighters will be able to keep a fire at Notre Dame from spreading and causing more destruction.
Fire Chief Jean-Claude Gallet said outside the iconic cathedral as his crews battled the blaze from both the exterior and interior: "We are not sure we are capable of stopping the spreading" to Notre Dame's second tower and belfry.
Gallet said: "If it collapses, you can imagine how important the damage will be."
Flames already have reached one of Notre Dame's towers and brought down the church spire that extended 96-meters-high.
The interior ministry has tweeted praise of the emergency services, who are keeping a security perimeter and evacuating residents all while fighting the fire. It has shared video of that work, as it continues for more than three hours.
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