firfighters notre dame
© Twitter / Pompiers de ParisFirefighter on scene at the Notre Dame blaze
After roughly nine hours, French firefighters managed to bring the blaze at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris under control. Two police officers and one firefighter were injured during the operation.

Around 400 firefighters were deployed to fight the fire, which began at approximately 6:50pm local time (16:50 GMT) Monday. Rescue workers stopped short of waterbombing the structure in order to bring the blaze under control, but still managing to avoid the worst-case scenario of total collapse of the historic and iconic 35-meter tall building.

"Two policemen and one fireman were slightly injured," France's national fire service said in a tweet Tuesday morning.


The emergency services shared a plethora of photos and video of the unprecedented firefighting operation.



Notre Dame Cathedral has survived the French Revolution and two World Wars, among other threats over the centuries since it was begun in 1160. French President Emmanuel Macron has already vowed to rebuild the cathedral, alluding to an international fundraising campaign to restore the structure to its former glory.

French authorities are investigating the cause of the blaze, which devastated Notre Dame Cathedral. Respectable company Le Bras Freres, which has vast experience in restoring roofs of historic buildings, is in the spotlight.

Police said Tuesday they had identified the workers who were at the roof of Notre Dame de Paris a day earlier when the colossal fire erupted and nearly wiped out the iconic 850-year-old Gothic church. Investigators will question people involved to establish how the fire broke out and got out of control.

The difficult task of renovating the spire of the cathedral, which was added to the building in mid-19th century after an older Medieval structure weakened over time and had to be removed, fell on a company called Le Bras Freres (Le Bras Brothers).


The firm, which is based in Jarny in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department of north-eastern France, is a respectable enterprise with decades of experience which includes restoring roofs of some of France's most-treasured historic buildings. Founded in 1954, it's a family business that is currently undergoing a transition to the third generation.

Its portfolio of special projects includes the 2-million-euro restoration of the dome of Pantheon, the French national mausoleum. The company also worked on the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Arles Amphitheatre, and the Royal Chapel at the Versailles. The Notre Dame project was the tenth for the firm involving a historic church.

Together with its subsidiary, Europe Echafaudage (Europe Scaffolding), Le Bras Freres employs some 180 people. A 25-million-euros turnover in 2017 allowed it to invest some 5 million euros into new equipment and extension of premises last year.


The Notre Dame restoration project involved erecting a complex scaffolding system which survived the fire and can be seen in the images showing the aftermath of the blaze. It included a lift, which could go up and down the 91-meter (299 feet) spire. The work was launched late last year, but workers barely started restoring the spire itself before it was destroyed in Monday's fire.

A preliminary investigation into the fire which heavily damaged the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Monday found no evidence that the incident was a case of arson, the city's public prosecutor said.


"We are favoring the theory of an accident," Remy Heitz told journalists. "No evidence indicates it was an intentional act."

The French official said 50 people are involved in the investigation into the devastating fire. They are currently questioning workers who were present at the moment the fire broke out.