23-minutes could save Notre Dame cathedral from the catastrophic fire (video)

More than $1 billion has been pledged to the restoration of Notre Dame cathedral.

It took Notre Dame staff 23 minutes after the first fire alarm sounded to discover the blaze that went on to cause widespread destruction to the 850-year-old cultural icon, — reports BBC.

Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz said an initial fire alert was sounded at 6:20 p.m. Monday but no fire was found. The second alert was sounded at 6:43 p.m., and the blaze was then discovered on the roof, but it was too late to stop the inferno.

The fire blazed for several hours and damaged the roof, causing the cathedral’s large spire to collapse and coming perilously close to destroying the entire building.

Heitz said the inquiry into the fire would be “long and complex.” Fifty investigators were working on it and would interview workers from five companies hired for the renovations to the cathedral’s roof, where the flames first broke out.

A plan to safeguard the masterpieces and relics was quickly put into action after the fire broke out.

The Crown of Thorns, regarded as Notre Dame’s most sacred relic, was among the treasures quickly transported after the fire broke out, authorities said. Brought to Paris by King Louis IX in the 13th century, it is purported to have been pressed onto Christ’s head during the crucifixion.

The cathedral’s famous 18th-century organ that boasts more than 8,000 pipes also survived. Some of the paintings and other art works are being dehumidified, protected and eventually restored at the Louvre.

Nearly $1 billion has already poured in from ordinary worshippers and high-powered magnates around the world to restore the fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, after the French president set a controversial five-year deadline to get the work done.

«We will rebuild Notre Dame even more beautifully and I want it to be completed in five years, we can do it,» Emmanuel Macron said in a television address to the nation.

Reference: Notre Dame’s foundation stone was laid in 1163 by Pope Alexander III, and the cathedral was completed in the 13th century. Today, with its towers, spire, flying buttresses and stained glass, Notre Dame is considered a feat of architecture as well as a major religious and cultural symbol of France.