S--t happens...

[hypatia_66]

The catastrophic fire at Notre Dame de Paris brings back memories of a near disaster at York Minster in July 1984. A lightning strike in very dry conditions, with no rain, set light to the roof timbers of the south transept.

York Minster. South transept roof on fire. July 1984

York Minster. South transept, whose roof would normally hide the flying buttresses from this angle, showing blackened stonework where the roof used to be.

Notre Dame, 15 April 2019. Our Lady of Sorrows...

This heartbreaking image appears to show an inferno inside the cathedral — it is apparently just the roof timbers above the stone vaulting. Bad enough but not the worst. Time will tell whether the superheated limestone is still capable of maintaining the structure.