PARIS (OSV News) ─ As the whole world awaits the reopening of Notre Dame, for those present inside the cathedral for the "grand réouverture," it will be even more of a special moment.
Gen. Arnaud de Cacqueray is commander of the prestigious Paris fire brigade, or "brigade de sapeurs-pompiers de Paris." Attending the official reopening on Dec. 7 in the presence of the French president and several heads of state, he will be representing Paris' firefighters, who heroically extinguished the fire that ravaged the cathedral on April 15, 2019.
"Paris' firefighters will help ensure the safety of the reopening event itself, under the authority of the prefect of police," Gen. de Cacqueray told OSV News. "The reopening of the cathedral is an important event for them. Notre Dame is now part of their history."
The fire raged for 12 hours, nearly destroying the 1,200-year-old church.
"The firefighters' intervention at Notre Dame was a source of pride for them, but also of humility," de Cacqueray said. "They were not the only ones to save it. There were all the members of the various trades who gave their all to restore it."
The Paris fire brigade is one of the best in the world -- and most probably the oldest one. It was born out of a tragic fire during Paris' noble ball in which Napoleon I took part. The emperor narrowly escaped the flames.
Following the tragedy, Napoleon issued an imperial decree and on Sept. 18, 1811, he entrusted the firefighting mission to a military corps, the Paris Firefighters Battalion. "In this warlike era ... only the military model constituted a guarantee of efficiency," the unit's website says.
Throughout history, wars and construction work have often been the cause of cathedral roof fires, like the one at Chartres Cathedral in 1836, de Cacqueray pointed out.
"Such fires are always spectacular, but they are not uncommon. Many are extinguished before the fire spreads to the entire roof," he said.
"The Notre Dame fire in 2019 was, however, unique in its scale and severity," the general emphasized. "It is one of those exceptional fires that the Paris firefighters are confronted with occasionally, but not often."
"One possible reason for the extent of the damage in Notre Dame may be linked to a modification carried out in the 19th century by the architect (Eugène) Viollet-le-Duc," de Cacqueray continued. "The spire he installed ... was heavier than the original modest bell tower, which had been dismantled at the end of the 18th century. It rested essentially on the four corner buttresses. One hypothesis is that once ignited, its heavy weight meant that its fall shook the vault, then caused it to collapse," the general said.
"This moment was the most striking for the firefighters," de Cacqueray noted. "Once the vault had collapsed, there was a great influx of air which contributed to increasing the violence of the fire."
For the top French general, Notre Dame is personally a special place.
"From 2010 to 2014, I was responsible for the cathedral as part of my command duties," he said. "I had visited it several times from top to bottom, because of its priceless heritage and highly complex architecture. I was very impressed the first time I entered the tangle of centuries-old beams known as the 'forest.' I was able to appreciate the extraordinary skill of the craftsmen of the Middle Ages, and the patience and determination it had taken them several decades to build this cathedral."
He said that "the architectural design of a cathedral takes into account the risks of fire and the possible means of rescue," and that since the last 19th-century restoration, "there was a permanent fire station in the cathedral."
But that proved insufficient in April 2019, so "today, the new facilities at Notre Dame, created during the renovation work, incorporate modern technologies: standpipes, automatic smoke or heat detection with remote alarms, and permanent surveillance," de Cacqueray said. "For greater security, the details of these arrangements remain confidential," he added.
But for him, the night of the Notre Dame fire was special not only for professional reasons but also "in terms of the emotion it aroused that evening," he pointed out.
"Thousands of people massed around the cathedral and many gathered to pray. And then we witnessed an exceptional outpouring of generosity," he said of donations that poured within hours after the fire was contained. Donors pledged almost $1 billion to restore the Parisian icon to its former glory -- for the renovation that has cost $760 million so far.
"Fires in cathedrals have always been followed by reconstruction. This can be explained by faith, by the love of the sacred and the desire to preserve a heritage. But the surge of generosity we have witnessed for Notre Dame de Paris extended those of previous centuries. It was exceptional, as was the emotion that accompanied it," the general said.
"For me, the most striking moment was when I received a terse text message from an officer I knew, simply saying 'We saved the crown of thorns,'" de Cacqueray continued. "Several firefighters also told me how moved they were when they left Notre Dame in the early hours of the morning. There were still people praying on their knees, and the crowd applauded them. The grateful looks on people's faces left a lasting impression on the firefighters."
De Cacqueray said he had visited the cathedral several times recently, and remarked that "inside, the light is breathtakingly beautiful. And the chapels ... behind the choir dazzled me, with their revived colors.
"I am sure the emotion of the reopening will be as great as that of the fire," he concluded.
"I am very moved to represent the brigade and all those who fought to save this treasure. I am immensely grateful to all the patrons, large and small, who made its restoration possible. And also for all those who prayed for the firefighters during their intervention."
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Caroline de Sury writes for OSV News from Paris.
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