Like many of you I am shocked and saddened this evening by the news and images of the disastrous fire that has engulfed the famous Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.  It is a devastating loss, (hopefully just a bad wound....), not just to Parisians, and not just to Catholics, but to all Christians around the world who appreciate the enduring symbolism of these magnificent Cathedrals, that are cultural treasures, that have survived revolutions and world wars over many centuries.  Also mourning is anyone who appreciates French Gothic Architecture and the incredible effort it took to design and build Notre-Dame almost 900 years ago, as well as renovate it in the 19th Century.

As you can see from @PeteF's amazing photos of the heavy wood timber structure that supported the main roof of the Cathedral over the nave and transept and the central spire's structure, it would make sense that once a fire begins and its rapidly rising heat is trapped inside under the roof, that a super heated ignition point could be reached very quickly.  Usually, heavy timber burns very slowly, but due to its old age and presumed extreme dryness, it probably ignited and burned much more quickly.  Since there was a renovation project underway at the Cathedral's roof, all enclosed with scaffolding, I will venture a wild guess that the fire started from some most unfortunate construction related accident.  We will know in coming days the real extent of the damage to the rest of the Cathedral, but I can imagine that there will be extensive damage due to a combination of variables of heat and smoke from the fire, in addition to the water pumped onto the roof to douse the fire, soaking many other areas. 

I believe that the French will undoubtedly commit to rebuilding the destroyed parts of the Cathedral.  They really must, since it is such an important national architectural landmark, transcending its original religious purpose and beloved by the French for its recognizable symbolism, just below the level of the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe.  Since it is France, I would not be surprised that once the cathedral is ultimately restored where possible and reconstructed, using taxpayer money, that there may be calls for it to no longer serve  just as a Catholic church and that it should become a more ecumenical or non-denominational religious building open to all religions.....or even be turned into a museum, like the Turks did with Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.  Who knows....?    

BTW, the company I have been associated with did the 2014-2015 renovation of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City and as part of that renovation, working closely with the FDNY, the project team and all trade contractors working inside and outside the Cathedral adhered to very strict fire prevention precautions.  As part of the renovation a sprinkler system was installed in certain parts of the structure and building code required fire-resistant materials were installed wherever possible, including the roof.  Here is a link to more information on that project:
https://saintpatrickscathedral.org/restore-st-patricks-cathedral

AVB-AMG

On ‎4‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 5:29 PM, voyager9 said:

Retrofitting modern fire protection systems to something as big and old as that cathedral would be nontrivial and may not even be possible (eg depending on the water supply situation in that part of the city). 

Calling the French morons is a bit unfair. The US has tons of old unprotected historic buildings. 

Having spent more years than I care to think about installing sprinklers in historic buildings, I can say without a doubt that it would have been doable in this case.  I'll predict that the renovation / restoration will include sprinklers.

https://www.pcgamesn.com/assassins-creed-unity/notre-dame

Ubisoft has announced that it’s donating €500,000 ($564,000, £433,000) “to help with the restoration and reconstruction” of the Notre-Dame Cathedral, which was severely damaged in a fire that saw the building’s spire, and roof destroyed, as well as much of its original woodwork.

In a press release issued earlier today, Ubisoft also announced that “we want to give everyone the chance to experience the majesty and beauty of Notre-Dame the best way we know how.” To that end, the company is giving away Assassin’s Creed Unity – which is set in Paris and features a highly-detailed digital version of the Cathedral – for free.

The deal is limited to PC, and you’ll be able to download the game via Uplay or the Assassin’s Creed website for a limited time – Ubisoft’s press release says it’ll be available for one week, meaning you’ll have access to it from 16:00 today until 09:00 on Thursday, April 25 (depending on your local time).

Fuck the french...

Notre Dame was in need of major improvements for many years and the French Government refused to help due to its refusal to give funding on religious projects. The church ignored it as well except they started fundraising for the needed repairs.

The people of France are now sad it burned down??

Where the fuck were they over the last few years when fundraising was being conducted to do much needed improvements to the cathedral... No where.... the vast majority of donations came from the American people not the french... They are secular and refused to donate to a catholic cathedral. Now that it burned down they all jump in as if they really care... Most do not.

The french Government only now wants to help as they realized they lost a major tourist attraction.

 

 

BTW.. i still find this fire suspicious..  I doubt we will ever know truly what happened... Just to easy to blame a short circuit.

On 4/15/2019 at 10:22 PM, AVB-AMG said:

Since it is France, I would not be surprised that once the cathedral is ultimately restored and rebuilt using taxpayer money, that there may be calls for it to no longer serve as a Catholic church and that it should become a more ecumenical or non-denominational religious building open to all religions.....

This is the reason i think it should be done with private donations... It is a church and should remain so.

Im sure there are some that would be more than happy to remove its religious history.

Man caught with 2 gas cans entering St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC, police say

https://www.foxnews.com/us/st-patricks-cathedral-new-york-city

45 minutes ago, remixer said:

Man caught with 2 gas cans entering St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC, police say

https://www.foxnews.com/us/st-patricks-cathedral-new-york-city

He said his car was out of gas.... 

 

Just now, W2MC said:

He said his car was out of gas.... 

 

And why did he need lighter Fluid?

 

Couldnt start?

 

2 hours ago, remixer said:

Fuck the french...

They are hapless morons, good at perhaps nothing except the fancy pants wine that folks like AVG drink.

1 minute ago, Handyman said:

They are hapless morons, good at perhaps nothing except the fancy pants wine that folks like AVG drink.

They make great wine (so does CA) and Fries

Other then that.....  They are useless

 

20 minutes ago, remixer said:

They make great wine (so does CA) and Fries

Other then that.....  They are useless

 

Marie Curie and Louis Pasteur say hello.

1 minute ago, CMJeepster said:

Marie Curie and Louis Pasteur say hello.

I dont watch Porno's... I dont know who they are

 

Couple things... She was polish he was from the late 1800's

I would admit the Old french were great... They helped us fight the brits...

The new french are shitbags.

2 hours ago, remixer said:

BTW.. i still find this fire suspicious..  I doubt we will ever know truly what happened... Just to easy to blame a short circuit.

It could have just been a mistake by a worker. I wonder if one of them was using a torch to remove old paint or something.  Or welding..

Remember when the mansion at Thompson Park burned down in 2006 when a worker was removing old paint with a torch?

1 minute ago, Sniper said:

It could have just been a mistake by a worker. I wonder if one of them was using a torch to remove old paint or something.  Or welding..

Remember when the mansion at Thompson Park burned down in 2006 when a worker was removing old paint with a torch?

Its possible.... I just find it interesting that it started right after it closed to the public.

And when lots of workers were presumably in there and had access... And essentially during holy week no less... and in a country ravished with a lot of 7th century barbarians.    But who could say...  It's too bad that all of those art works and the building, and such couldn't have been sold and the profits used to help the statist poor before they were ruined.  Since they were doing a lot of work, maybe much had been removed to other chambers.    No casualties?  Just a few firemen were hurt?

1 hour ago, remixer said:

Couple things... She was polish he was from the late 1800's

I would admit the Old french were great... They helped us fight the brits...

The new french are shitbags.

It's a great place to get surplus tanks.  They're only used once, and only in reverse!

1 hour ago, remixer said:

Couple things... She was polish...

Naturalized-French

17 minutes ago, CMJeepster said:

Naturalized-French

Can we give the Polish a Win... They get a bad rap

On 4/18/2019 at 10:14 AM, Handyman said:

They are hapless morons, good at perhaps nothing except the fancy pants wine that folks like AVG drink.

@Handyman:

Well, the majority of French people are not morons, but I do agree that the French certainly know how to produce wonderful wine.
Tonight, my wife and I went out to a local restaurant and selected a very nice French Red Burgundy wine, (Pinot Noir), to accompany our dinner entrees.  It was much more tanic than the CA or Washington State Pinot Noir's which usually taste rather "jammy" to me, nice but different.

Also, due to the strength of the U.S. dollar compared to the Euro, European wines, French in particular, are much more reasonably priced and a good value right now.  Why don't you go to your local wine store and purchase a bottle of French wine that they recommend, for $20 or less, to go with your Swanson's frozen TV dinner for your evening meal one night.  I think you will find it quite enjoyable.....

AVB-AMG

9 hours ago, AVB-AMG said:

Why don't you go to your local wine store and purchase a bottle of French wine that they recommend, for $20 or less, to go with your Swanson's frozen TV dinner for your evening meal one night. 

I'm disappointed. Any respectable oenophile would surely know that won't pair with Swansons. I generally find my delicate palate drawn in another direction.

2 hours ago, Handyman said:

I'm disappointed. Any respectable oenophile would surely know that won't pair with Swansons. I generally find my delicate palate drawn in another direction.

@Handyman which do you recommend to pair with a fried Spam sandwich?

What's the word...Thunderbird....what's the price...30 twice.....who drinks the most..... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

3 hours ago, xXxplosive said:

What's the word...Thunderbird....what's the price...30 twice.....who drinks the most..... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

Had to recite that during Thunderbird night when I pledged back in college, brings back some old memories!

3 hours ago, GRIZ said:

@Handyman which do you recommend to pair with a fried Spam sandwich?

For spam, I recommend the Night Train. It's a one way ticket to nowhere.

14 hours ago, Handyman said:

I'm disappointed. Any respectable oenophile would surely know that won't pair with Swansons. I generally find my delicate palate drawn in another direction.

A fine collection there but I must say I’d go with the Mad Dog Grape.  Goes well with that Swanson’s as well as most Hungry Man dinners.  

That is a good vintage. Boone's Farm also pair well.