Nantes Cathedral fire: Firefighters rush to devastating blaze engulfing French church
NANTES Cathedral in France is ablaze and firefighters have rushed to the historic building in a desperate attempt to quell the inferno.
Nantes Cathedral fire: Black smoke emerges from building
Billows of smoke are rising from the Cathedral after a large fire engulfed the nave of the building. The sight of the devastating blaze has sparked alarm from locals who are hoping there is no major damage to the church.
One Twitter user who was on the scene tweeted: "Major fire in Nantes Cathedral. Let us keep our fingers crossed so that the damage is minor, and above all, that it is not of criminal origin."
Another said: "Fire alert at Nantes cathedral, not all these fires are coincidences or accidents."
Nantes Cathedral last caught fire in 1972 when a large blaze started on the church's roof.
On that occasion fire fighters were able to bring the flames under control but not before much of the building's timber frame was damaged.
So badly damaged was the historic building it required a complete interorir restoration - the first of its kind in France.
Hoping today's fire will not cause as much damage, one person said on social media: "I learn with great sadness that the Cathedral in Nantes is once again engulfed in flames on Saturday morning.
"History unfortunately repeats itself 48 years later.
According to local authorities three departures of fire were observed in the cathedral.
One hundred Loire-Atlantique firefighters were dispatched to control the fire.
According to Pierre Sennes, the public prosecutor of Nantes, "three different fires were observed at the level of the great organ, to the right and to the left of the nave".
He added: “The damage is concentrated on the large organ which seems to be completely destroyed.
"The platform on which it is located is very unstable and threatens to collapse."
"Support for our firefighters."
The Cathedral also suffered damage during the Second World War, when bombs dropped on June 15 1944 caused major damage.
The gothic structure has a higher nave than Notre-Dame in Paris.
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Nantes Cathedral: Firefighters tackle blaze in France
Nantes Cathedral's nave stands at 37.5 metres high.
One twitter user priased the firefighters who got to the scene at helped to extinguisg the blaze.
They tweeted: "A fire ravages the cathedral of Nantes since this morning.
"Congratulations to the firefighters fighting hard to limit the damage!"
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Frefighters and police will investigate the scene to see how the fire began.
At present the fire looks to have happened accidentally.
But many on twitter are concerned that it could have been arson.
French TV images showed smoke coming out of the 15th century Cathedral.
The current fire comes just over a year after a major blaze gutted Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.
The fire at Notre Dame destroyed its main spire.
The cathedral is famous for its 500m² of colourful stained glass windows.
French fire fighters are thought to have managed to extinguish the flames.