The fire moved hungrily across Notre Dame's rooftop toward the cathedral's iconic spire as firefighters, priests and municipal workers below passed treasures hand-to-hand, hoping the speed of desperation could outrun the flames. They had 66 minutes.
PARIS -- Fueled by a lattice of centuries-old timbers, the fire moved hungrily across Notre Dame's rooftop toward the cathedral's iconic spire. It belched yellow smoke, spitting out gritty particles of wood, stone, lead and iron and wanted more. Far below, their vision obscured by fumes and tears, firefighters, priests and municipal workers passed treasures hand-to-hand, hoping the speed of desperation could outrun the flames.The first alarm sounded at 6:20 p.m.
The first firetrucks lumbered through rush-hour traffic, blasting their two-tone sirens at full volume to reach the island that is the historic and geographic heart of Paris. For that first half-hour, it looked like the fire couldn't possibly leave more than a small age mark on the nearly 900-year-old building -- more akin to the inevitable wear on stone's rough edges than the fury of the French Revolution that left it in ruins for decades.
Firefighters cracked the chest open, pulling out the Crown of Thorns revered as the one worn by Jesus Christ at his crucifixion. Made of rushes wrapped into a wreath and tied with gold filament, it had been kept under glass since 1896. The tunic of St. Louis, believed to have belonged to King Louis IX, came out of the chest along with fragments of the cross and a nail, said Patrick Chauvet, rector of Notre Dame Cathedral.
The spire was lost. Could Notre Dame itself be saved? From inside and out, firefighters fought the battle of their lives -- a battle for the ages.
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