Stories from those who saw Notre Dame Cathedral burn. Five years later the shock still lingers

On April 15, 2019, Notre Dame Cathedral caught fire. Five years later, the shock still lingers for some people.

Narrated by Patrick Chauvet, Notre Dame’s chief parish priest from 2016 to 2022. Reuters who was returning to his residence when he received an urgent call: the spire was on fire.

It was at Notre Dame that he was ordained a priest and, as rector, it was there that he celebrated Mass every day.

Passers-by stood by all night while the flames were extinguished. Catholics stood on the other side of the river and sang prayer hymns. “Perhaps my greatest memory was listening to the songs of all these young people,” Chauvet said.

Radiologist Albert Cohen was taking his usual bicycle ride along the Seine when he saw flames bursting from the cathedral. “I thought I was going to fall apart,” he said.

Across the river, Lawrence Alsina was closing a book stand when he saw the tragedy. “It turned into a huge smoke. It was scary… It was too much, too much,” he says, unable to hold back tears as he remembers the fire.

French President Emmanuel Macron quickly went to the cathedral grounds, as did First Lady Brigitte Macron, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, ministers and police who waited while firefighters put out the blaze.

According to ReutersThe cathedral is expected to reopen on December 8, 2024.