A few days ago, the French Cathedral Notre Dame caught fire. It has been reported that the fire alarms in the church started to go off about 6 pm local time and that there was a quick response from firefighters trying to contain the fire. Unfortunately, it appears that a computer glitch led first responders to the wrong part of the building. This means that they were not able to start fighting the fire right away which may have cost them quite a bit in terms of time.
The fire spread quickly throughout the church as even though the outside is stonework, the upper rafters are dominated by wooden support structures. This was why people were so concerned about the roof collapsing, it was all supported by wood. This problem was made worse by the fact that the water from the fire-hoses could not reach the top of the structure, meaning the fire burned unhindered for quite some time. The whole thing hit its peak when its wooden spire collapsed and fell downward into the flames.
The French government has vowed to repair the cathedral with President Emmanuel Macron setting an ambitious time table of five years for it to be fully repaired. This is unlikely but people remain hopeful.