Another One Burns: Magnificent Spire of Rouen Cathedral Set on Fire During Renovation Work

The spire of Rouen Cathedral, not so long ago the world’s tallest building, was burning Thursday morning amid renovation work at the scaffolding-clad building.

Thick, black smoke poured from the 495 foot (151 meter) spire of Rouen Cathedral on Thursday morning after contractors working on the restoration of the church started a fire. Per French broadsheet Le Figaro, the fire was discovered by builders in the spire and the fire brigade said the burning material was “plastic construction site materials”.

The spire over the Cathedral’s transept tower has been burnt down several times before, with an identical wood and lead tower replacing the earlier spire after a fire in the 16th century. The spire was burnt again after a lightning strike in 1822, and was replaced with a new and considerably taller cast-iron spire completed by 1882. That spire remains today, and given its all-metal construction will hopefully survive today’s blaze.

Rouen Cathedral in normal times, image captured in 2015 / Philippe Roudaut / Wikimedia Commons

The fire was first reported to the emergency services at midday local time and was said to be “under control but not extinguished” by lunchtime. The fire brigade say while they have not completed their inspections and can’t yet declare the fire totally extinguished, it is their belief the heat of the fire has not damaged the structure of the spire.

More pertinent now is the potential for water damage in the church below the spire, given the amount pumped up by the fire brigade to get the blaze under control.

The fire at an iconic European historic building during restoration work has inevitably drawn comparisons to the near-loss of the Paris Notre Dame cathedral five years ago, and the loss of Copenhagen’s Børsbygningen, one of the oldest buildings in the Netherlands earlier this year.