Architects and construction workers have now stabilized the damaged structure of Notre Dame cathedral, after a fast-spreading fire ravaged the iconic Paris building, and firefighters have now left the site.
French officials said that there is no more risk the cathedral’s walls could fall down.
The exact cause of the fire is still not known. Patrick Chauvet, the cathedral’s rector said a “computer glitch” may have been behind the rapidly spreading blaze that devastated the 850-year-old architectural masterpiece although he did not elaborate on the exact nature of the glitch.
On Thursday, Paris police investigators said they believe an electrical short-circuit most likely caused the fire.
The Parisien newspaper has reported that a computer glitch might have misdirected firefighters responding to the initial fire alarm.
The unsourced report said investigators are also looking into whether the fire was linked to temporary elevators being used in a renovation that was underway at the time the cathedral caught fire. Chauvet said there were fire alarms throughout the building, which he described as “well protected.”
Charlotte Hubert, president of a group of French architects who specialize in historic monuments, told BFM television that experts plan to spread a custom-made peaked tarpaulin across the cathedral’s roof, with enough space to also shield workers rebuilding the frame.
Christians take part in a stations of the cross procession along the banks of the Seine river, near Notre-Dame Cathedral as part of Good Friday religious celebrations, in Paris, France.
As Catholics carried out the Way of the Cross ritual near the cathedral to mark Good Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron met with officials from the United Nations’ cultural agency, UNESCO. UNESCO representatives have offered their technical expertise to help with the reconstruction.
Macron is moving quickly on the fire-ravaged monument’s reconstruction, which is being viewed both as a push to make it part of his legacy and a way to move past the divisive yellow vest protests over social inequality in France.
Large artworks are seen in a truck after being removed from Notre-Dame Cathedral to be secured after a massive fire devastated large parts of the gothic structure in Paris, France.
Notre Dame’s reconstruction is prompting widespread debate across France, with differing views over whether it should involve new technologies and designs. Macron’s office has, for example, said the president wants a “contemporary architectural gesture to be considered” for the collapsed 19th-century spire, which wasn’t part of the original cathedral.
Macron has named a general, Jean-Louis Georgelin, former chief of staff of the armed forces, to lead the reconstruction effort.
Over $1 billion has already poured in from people from all walks of life around the world to restore Notre Dame.
Judith Kagan, a conservation official at France’s Culture Ministry, said the artworks inside Notre Dame had suffered no major damage from the fire and the pieces were being removed from the building for their protection.
In a hopeful development Friday, 180,000 bees being kept in in hives on Notre Dame’s lead roofing were discovered alive. They were installed as part of a city-wide initiative to boost declining bee numbers.
Since the insects have no lungs, the carbon dioxide in the fire’s heavy smoke put the bees into a sedated state instead of killing them. When bees sense fire they gorge themselves on honey and protect their queen.
