PARIS – One had been playing music. Another rushed in as dangerous flames engulfed a medieval spire. A third scrambled to find keys to a…
PARIS – One had been playing music. Another rushed in as dangerous flames engulfed a medieval spire. A third scrambled to find keys to a safe that held priceless relics.
Two days after a devastating fire destroyed large parts of the world-famous Notre Dame Cathedral in central Paris, investigators have yet to reveal the specific cause of the blaze that burned the cathedral’s ancient wooden beams. They don’t suspect foul play, and they think it was an accident. But the dramatic stories of those caught up in the fire at the 850-year-old site have started to emerge.
Johann Vexo, 40, an organist for the church’s choir, was playing his instrument as part of a 6 o’clock Mass service for about 200 people. He was among the first to be evacuated from Notre Dame.
About 10 to 15 minutes into the service, a smoke alarm went off.
“I am on duty every Monday. My first thought was: ‘This is a mistake. It’s a problem with the alarm system.’ It never occurred to me that it was a real fire,” Vexo told USA TODAY.
Vexo and the worshipers calmly filed out halfway through a reading of the Gospels.
He went home, not even sure if there had been a fire.
At around 6:20, a church security officer responded to the alarm and reported seeing no smoke or fire.
Less than 30 minutes later, as the church was about to let people back in, a second alert was received by the security team. This time, fire had been spotted.
Myriam Chudzinksi, 27, a corporal in the Paris Fire Brigade, was among the first emergency service personnel to get to the cathedral. She arrived in less than 10 minutes, just before 7 p.
