The Notre Dame Fire

On the evening of April 15, 2019, a fire broke out in the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris which has a history of more than 850 years and is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
It took firefighters 15 hours to completely extinguish the fire.
The roof built in the 13th century and the spire rebuilt in the 19th century burned and collapsed.
The main stone structure and two towers survived.
The destruction of this precious cultural asset shocked France and the world.
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Fire experts revealed that the main reason why this fire was so difficult to put out had to do with the wooden roof, stone brick exterior walls, and the height of the building.
Glenn Corbett, associate professor of fire protection at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, USA, said that, simply put, the  flammable materials are high above (the roof), and it is difficult for firefighters to quickly spray water on these places.


Investigators conducted a preliminary assessment of the fire soon after.
There was still certain danger inside and authorities also questioned 40 Notre Dame staff, including workers responsible for repairing the spire and roof.
Preliminary investigation shows that the fire was most likely caused by a short circuit in the electrical wires.
After an accidental fire broke out at the bottom of the spire, the fire quickly spread and turned into a conflagration.
Paris prosecutors are also investigating the short circuit in the electrical wires.
Prosecutors believe that the cause of the fire was accidental, but any possible cause of the fire cannot be ruled out at this stage.
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It was revealed that workers who were renovating Notre Dame Cathedral before the fire violated the no-smoking regulations.
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The construction manufacturer Le Bras Freres told AFP that it was regrettable that workers did not comply with the smoking ban, but emphasized that a single cigarette butt was definitely not the cause of the Notre Dame fire.
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There are also speculations that the fire should have started at a short circuit in the wires of the elevator installed in the scaffolding.
In response, the manufacturer stated that the elevator motor could not have caused the problem, not to mention that it was located some distance away from the burning spire.
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Warning: these questons and answers are not all representative of the way questions will be asked and answered in the pilot, because some questions are compound and some answers do not include citations.

Q: When did the fire happened?
A: On the evening of April 15, 2019.

Q: How old is the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris?
A: 850 years.

Q: What is the prestige of the Cathédrale?
A: It is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Q: What are the damages caused by the fire?
A: The roof built in the 13th century and the spire rebuilt in the 19th century burned and collapsed.

Q: What caused the fire?
A: Preliminary investigation shows that the fire was most likely caused by a short circuit in the electrical wires.

Q: Why was the fire hard to control after it got started?
A: The  flammable materials were high above (the roof), and it was difficult for firefighters to quickly spray water on these places

Q: Did the construction workers smoke while working on the renovation?
A: Yes, they did that against the regulations.

Q: Could the smoking of the workers have caused the fire?
A: There have been such speculations but the construction company denied that possibility.