ABC News to Share First Look Inside Notre Dame Cathedral After Devastating Fire
Notre Dame Cathedral is still closed to visitors, but ABC News has an exclusive first look inside the fire-ravaged landmark.
It was announced on Monday that ABC News’ David Muir was the first television journalist invited to take a tour of the devastation and what’s being done to rebuild the Paris cathedral.
In a preview from Muir’s full report, which will air on Monday’s episode of World News Tonight with David Muir, the journalist meets with retired French General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who’s been put in charge of the restoration process.
“You have been tasked with well, some would say the impossible,” Muir tells Georgelin inside the cathedral.
With a laugh, he replies, “Nothing is impossible to a French general.”
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The wreckage inside includes the charred remains of the iconic spire, which now are resting in a burnt heap. Additionally, although protective netting has been placed atop the holes in the ceiling, which prevents additional debris from falling inside, the covering does not protect against rainfall.
Georglein tells Muir that those working to rebuild the cathedral must wear protective suits and masks and take blood tests, due to the approximate 400 tons of lead from the roof that the fire burned through.
Despite all that was lost, many things remained, including precious artwork, the colorful stained-glass windows, and its massive pipe organ.
“The organ hasn’t been touched by the flames but there is water, there is lead,” Georgelin shares, according to ABC News. “We probably will have to remove it to repair it … Sometime we will hear it again, the organ of Notre Dame de Paris.”
Another precious relic saved from the fire is a 14th century statue of the Virgin Mary.
Muir and Georglein also stopped to admire the giant white cross in the front of the building, which was miraculously saved from the devastation, and provided a small glimmer of hope at the time regarding the cathedral’s fate.
“The entire world saw the cross of God shining despite the fire,” Georgelin says.
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Although an official cause of the blaze has not yet been confirmed, initial reports indicated the fire started in Notre Dame’s attic, which has a wooden framework, and spread across the roof and up the 300-foot spire. There are also no sprinklers or fire-blocking walls installed in this area, as there are elsewhere in the historic building.
The magnitude of the fire was likely due to the period of time it burned undiscovered.
The first alarm went off at the church at 6:20 p.m. on April 15. Checks were carried out at that time, Heitz confirms, but no fire was found. It wasn’t until 23 minutes later, when a second alarm sounded, that the blaze was located, according to the New York Times. By that time, it could not be contained.
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Despite the destruction, the main part of the structure has been saved and fundraising for the effort to restore and rebuild the 850-year-old church quickly topped $1 billion, thanks to massive donations from wealthy French citizens including Francois Pinault, Salma Hayek’s husband, who pledged $100 million euros, and LVMH head Bernard Arnault, who will contribute $200 million euros.
The Catholic church is a world-famous landmark for the French capital, second only perhaps to the Eiffel Tower, and draws about 13 million visitors per year. It has been a center of religious and cultural life there since it was completed around 1365.
French President Emmanual Macron has stated that he hopes to have the cathedral completely rebuilt in five years, though some experts suggest it will be much longer. Paris is scheduled to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
World News Tonight with David Muir airs weeknights at 6:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
