Inferno engulfs Nantes cathedral as 60 firefighters battle to save 1434 church – while fire chief admits ‘major fire is NOT under control’ and getting WORSE – a year after blaze left Notre-Dame in ruins
- Army of 60 firefighters has been deployed to tackle the major blaze in France
- Smoke billowing out of the 15th-century structure and fire is ‘not under control’
- The blaze comes just over a year after a major fire at the Notre Dame in Paris
An enormous fire has engulfed a cathedral in the western French city of Nantes this morning and an army of 60 firefighters has been deployed.
Smoke has been seen billowing out of the 15th-century structure as emergency services desperately try to extinguish the inferno.
The blaze comes just over a year after a major fire at the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, which destroyed its roof and main spire.
An enormous fire has engulfed a cathedral in the western French city of Nantes this morning and an army of 60 firefighters has been deployed
Smoke has been seen billowing out of the 15th-century structure as emergency services desperately try to extinguish the inferno
The blaze comes just over a year after a major fire at the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, which destroyed its roof and main spire
‘The fire is not under control, it is advancing. It is a major fire,’ the emergency operations centre said, adding that crews were alerted just before 8am and that 60 firefighters had been dispatched.
Cecile Renaud, who works in a bakery facing the cathedral and alerted the fire services early on Saturday, told BFM TV she had seen huge flames inside the building.
‘It was a huge shock. It’s extremely sad.’
Firefighters are seen outside the cathedral trying to regain control of the blaze
They used cranes to reach the heart of the fire, which seems to come from the top of the cathedral
An eyewitness told the LCI 24-hour news network that he could see the fire from his home, not far from the cathedral. He said he was woken up by ‘a very strange sound of bells’
It is not the first time the cathedral has caught fire. In 1972 a fire completely ravaged its roof. It was finally rebuilt 13 years later.
An eyewitness told the LCI 24-hour news network that he could see the fire from his home, not far from the cathedral. He said he was woken up by ‘a very strange sound of bells’.
‘From what I can see, there is more and more smoke,’ he said.
It is not the first time the cathedral has caught fire. It was partly destroyed during World War Two in 1944 after Allied bombings.
In 1972 a fire completely ravaged its roof. It was finally rebuilt 13 years later.