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Notre Dame Towers Declared Safe From Fire, Officials Say

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A French official and the Paris fire chief say they think Notre Dame Cathedral’s landmark rectangular towers have been saved from the fire that caused horrific damage.

 

Junior Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said late Monday that authorities remain “prudent” but are “much more optimistic” than earlier in the night.

 

Paris fire commander Jean-Claude Gallet said a major accomplishment of hundreds of firefighters was stopping the flames from spreading to the north tower belfry.

 

Gallet says two-thirds of Notre Dame’s roofing “has been ravaged.” He says one firefighter was injured.

 

French President Emmanuel Macron is treating the fire gutting Notre Dame Cathedral as a national emergency.

 

Macron reached the landmark cathedral on Monday evening and went straight into meetings at the nearby Paris police headquarters.

 

Police in Paris said earlier the cause of the massive fire enveloping the spire of Notre Dame Cathedral isn’t yet known.

 

The French capital’s police department said no deaths have been reported from Monday’s fire.

 

The peak of the 12th century cathedral was undergoing a 6 million-euro ($6.8 million) renovation project.

 

French media quoted the Paris fire brigade saying the fire is “potentially linked” to the renovation work.

 

Located on the Ile de la Cite in the center of Paris, the Gothic cathedral is among the most famous from the Middle Ages and was built on the ruins of two earlier churches.

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