Fire breaks out in spire of Rouen Cathedral in northwest France

Paris — The famous medieval cathedral in the city of Rouen in western France was evacuated Thursday when a fire broke out in the spire. The Notre Dame of Rouen Cathedral is undergoing renovations and video from the scene showed thick smoke rising from the spire, which is partially covered in scaffolding.

Fire trucks raced to the scene to save the cathedral, made famous by impressionist painter Claude Monet who depicted the imposing structure in a series of paintings in the 1890s, and the fire was brought under control in about an hour and a half. 

Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, the Mayor of Rouen, which is in France’s northern Normandy region, said no one was injured.

A security perimeter was set up around the large cathedral, which was built starting almost 1,000 years ago.

It’s unclear how the fire started, but The Associated Press quoted firefighter Stephane Gouezec as saying crews were still working to ensure there were no “hot spots,” but that the risk of it spreading was low as it was in an area with mostly metal structure.

The fire came just over five years after a much larger blaze destroyed the roof of the iconic Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. The enormous, meticulous project to restore that famous church continues in the French capital.