A fire broke out on the spire of Rouen Cathedral at midday on Thursday, July 11, 2024. A firefighter intervention is underway to control the fire of unknown origin.
Thick black smoke in the sky of Rouen. This Thursday, July 11, 2024, around noon, a fire broke out in Rouen Cathedral and more particularly at the level of the spire of the building. Arrangements were immediately made to set up a security perimeter around the cathedral and the mayor of Rouen, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, assured that “all public resources are mobilized”.
Fire at the top of the spire of the cathedral #Rouen
The cathedral was evacuated.
Emergency services are on site and a security perimeter has been established.Please avoid the area and do not obstruct emergency lines. pic.twitter.com/ZNjBbZ2S86
— Prefect of Normandy and Seine-Maritime (@Prefet76) July 11, 2024
Emergency services quickly arrived on site according to the Seine-Maritime prefecture with 63 firefighters mobilized on site supported by 33 vehicles according to information communicated by the SDIS of the department to the AFP. The police have for their part cordoned off the area around the cathedral. The building has been completely evacuated and no casualties are to be deplored.
The firefighters’ intervention was still ongoing around 1 p.m. “We intervened for a fire at the cathedral. We are in a construction site area and it was workers who reported the start of the fire. The burning elements are plastic construction site elements,” explained the director of the SDIS, Colonel Gouezec, to Actu76. “We have reached the fire and we are in the process of finishing the extinguishing. We will need a few more minutes, maybe an hour to make sure that there are no hot spots left in the area,” the SDIS said during a press briefing. The prefect indicated that he had “requested the assistance of teams specializing in the preservation of movable property” regarding the preservation of the cathedral after the fire.
Law enforcement officers set up a security perimeter on the forecourt of the cathedral in #Rouen. From where I am I can’t see the firefighters yet. pic.twitter.com/trnr4dkDff
— Julien Bouteiller (@j_bouteiller) July 11, 2024
The fire was brought under control in less than two hours and the flames are no longer spreading according to the SDIS. The smoke is beginning to dissipate according to several journalists and images posted by Internet users.
The origin of the fire is still unknown
The fire broke out at midday on the spire of Rouen Cathedral, but the origin of the fire is “unknown at this stage” said the socialist mayor of Rouen. “The fire started at a height of 100 meters” according to information fromActu76. “The fire broke out at the top of the spire, which is not made of wood but of metal, and is currently undergoing restoration work,” said the Seine-Maritime prefecture, which is unable to say whether the wooden frame was affected by the fire.
Work was underway on the spire of Rouen Cathedral, the tarpaulin surrounding the architecture was burned and a gaping hole was formed by the flames. “The construction site is complex because of this height with very large scaffolding structures” explained Richard Duplat, chief architect of Historic Monuments, to West Trend talking about an “Eiffel Tower” construction site.