Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral to have a new firefighting system

Europe1 .fr , with AFP // THOMAS COEX / AFP 15:39 pm, December 13, 2023

The Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, ravaged by a fire in 2019 and due to reopen to the public on December 8, 2024, will be equipped with a new firefighting system, Philippe Jost, who heads the public establishment in charge of the reconstruction site, announced on Wednesday. "Every precaution has been taken to completely rethink the fire protection" of Notre-Dame de Paris, a masterpiece of Gothic art, which could welcome "14 million visitors" annually after its reopening, two more than before the fire, Philippe Jost told the National Assembly's Cultural Affairs Committee, which was hearing him.

A unique "misting device"

The new firefighting system includes a "misting device, being deployed in the attic and in the spire, to smother any possible fire start, a first in a cathedral in France," added the former right-hand man of General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who died accidentally this summer, and to whom he succeeded at the head of the establishment. The spire, still corseted with a forest of scaffolding, has reappeared in the sky of Paris, surmounted since December 6 by its cross. On Saturday, she will be reunited with her new rooster, which will be craned at the top after his blessing by the Archbishop of Paris, Monsignor Laurent Ulrich.

Questioned by MPs about the concerns about the lead, which should cover the spire and the roof, Philippe Jost assured that "the lead cloud, following the fire, which has given rise to a lively controversy and complaints from local residents, has not visibly induced contamination" and that an unprecedented and "experimental system for treating runoff water" was being deployed "in order to set up a most suitable sustainable system".

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The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, visited the Notre-Dame construction site on December 8, one year to the day before the planned reopening of the cathedral to which he intends to invite Pope Francis. Regarding the six contemporary stained-glass windows that the Head of State has announced will be completed following a competition, Philippe Jost assured that "everyone will endeavour to ensure that the consultation and the projects examined are up to the level of the monument and make it possible to reassure the concerns that are raised today" among the defenders of the monument's past cultural, religious and aesthetic heritage.

Nearly $850 million in donations for reconstruction

In addition, the work "will continue during the Olympic Games" in Paris in the summer of 2024 but public access to the three portals of the cathedral and the adjacent main street will be "ensured" in coordination with the Prefecture of Police, he said. Of the €848 million in donations collected for the reconstruction, €150 million were used for the clearing of the rubble and securing preparatory space for the launch of the project, which itself cost €552 million, according to Philippe Jost. Around €150 million remaining is expected to be used to restore parts of the cathedral's exterior, which suffered from significant damage before the fire.

On April 15, 2019, a spectacular fire ravaged the cathedral whose spire, designed by the <>th-century architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, collapsed, sparking worldwide emotion. Judicial investigations into the cause of the fire are continuing. At the end of the preliminary investigation, the accidental lead was preferred.