I watched the same two documentaries on BBC TV. The French one focused on the fire and the firefighters, and was right there in the action. There was an absolute determination to rescue relics and other artefacts at all costs. People were risking their lives to get them, and the firefighters were not impressed by the fact that the stressed cathedral official who had to lead them to the locked safe couldn’t remember the code!
At one point it seemed that all was lost, when flames were seen in one of the bell towers. The wooden framework had caught fire, and this would inevitably cause the heavy bells to fall through the floors and take the fire into the body of the cathedral. They couldn’t play hoses on the timbers from outside. One team volunteered to go inside and try and stop it there. This was highly dangerous, and the decision was passed upstairs. The camera was right there on the spot, and we saw the Fire Chief agonizing over whether to put those lives at high risk. Clearly he felt it was the right thing to do, but he was able to pass the final decision on to President Macron, who was right there on the spot. He too agonized for a few moments, before saying the equivalent of ‘do it’. A rare chance to witness such a decisive moment.
Then we learned just how dangerous it was: the firefighters needed to go up several floors, and the wooden stair treads were actually burning. They resorted to aluminium ladders. They extinguished the fire.
The main fire station was due a formal inspection the following morning, which required everything to be spotless. After fighting the fire all night, the team went back to the station and set about cleaning and tidying for the inspection! Very dedicated people.
