Fire at the pinnacle of the Gothic Cathedral in Rouen, France
The workers on the construction site reported the fire, said a spokesperson of the Fire Department to BFM. The firefighting efforts are underway. Approximately 70 firefighters and 40 firefighting vehicles are in action.
The Cathedral was evacuated, the Prefecture announced. The police sealed off the area and asked the population not to hinder the firefighting efforts.
The Cathedral is currently being renovated and is surrounded by a scaffold. It is unclear, according to the Prefecture, if the wooden roof structure has been affected by the fire. The Cathedral of Rouen is one of the masterpieces of Gothic architecture and was frequently painted by Claude Monet.
The 151 meter high tower top is made of cast iron. Until the completion of the Cologne Cathedral in 1880, the Cathedral of Rouen was the tallest building in the world.
During the fire at Notre-Dame in Paris in 2019, the tower from the 19th century was engulfed in flames and collapsed into the church. The renovation works are almost completed, the church is expected to reopen in December.
The fire that occurred at Notre-Dame in Paris had a chilling resemblance, as the spokesperson from the Fire Department mentioned, as a similar incident occurred at the Cathedral in Rouen. Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, the fire chief, led the firefighting efforts to prevent a similar fate. The Peak Tower, despite being made of cast iron, was fortunately not affected by the fire, unlike the wooden roof structure of the Cathedral Notre-Dame.
