The images of smoke pouring out of the Gothic building were a painful reminder of the fire that mauled Notre-Dame in Paris, but the authorities said the damage would not be as serious.
A fire broke out inside the cathedral of the western French city of Nantes in the early hours of Saturday, but the authorities quickly said there was no comparison with the blaze that engulfed Notre-Dame in Paris last year despite the ominous images of flames and smoke coming from the building.
Over 100 firefighters were sent to the cathedral in Nantes after they were alerted shortly before 8 a.m., but the “violent fire” was controlled in hours, according to Gen. Laurent Ferlay, the head of the firefighters in the Loire Atlantique area, which includes the city.
“It is not a scenario à la Notre-Dame de Paris,” General Ferlay told reporters, adding that the fire, though contained, was not yet extinguished. “The roof hasn’t been hit,” he noted.
General Ferlay said that the fire had broken out near the organ of the cathedral and had destroyed the instrument entirely. The authorities have opened an investigation amid suspicion that the fire may have been intentional because three separate starting points for the blaze had been detected.
