NARRATOR: April the 15th, 2019.
Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral has erupted in flames.
REPORTER (over TV): We've breaking news out of Paris,
we're getting word of what appears to be a fire.
REPORTER (over TV): Notre Dame in flames.
REPORTER (over TV): Let's go live now with images from the scene.
NARRATOR: For the city's fire brigade,
it's a declaration of war.
GONTIER: It's going to be a tough fight.
No one knows the outcome.
NARRATOR: Their mission...
To save this masterpiece of world heritage.
It's a ferocious, 7-hour battle,
as the entire world watches.
GONTIER: The fire can pick up very quickly,
and if we're not on top of it, it's game over!
(speaking in French).
NARRATOR: Minute by minute, hour by hour.
This documentary follows every moment of this heroic battle,
and the work of its firefighters on the front line.
MYRIAM: The fire is our enemy.
MARC: It's spreads incredibly fast.
JÉRÔME: We expect it will be a massive job.
A long job. A complicated job.
NARRATOR: Thanks to hundreds of hours of footage from the incident.
The following is an unprecedented,
exact account of that hellish night.
(sirens).
9:36pm.
The cathedral has been ablaze for 3 hours.
600 firefighters have been called into action and
they're losing the fight.
The fire is dangerously closing in on the belfry of
the North Tower.
MARC: If the belfry catches fire, the war is lost.
If the flames engulf the belfry,
we'll leave this place with piles of ashes behind us.
NARRATOR: General Gontier is in charge of operations.
Second in command is General Gallet,
Commander of the Brigade.
In the next few minutes, the very survival of the cathedral
is at stake because inside the north belfry are eight huge bells.
If they fall, it's a disaster.
JÉRÔME: If the belfry crumbles,
both towers collapse, and Notre-Dame is gone.
NARRATOR: But how could the fire have spread so fast?
What could have caused this tragedy?
It all begins at 6:30pm.
A thick cloud of smoke spreads across the Parisian sky and
it's coming from Notre-Dame.
The cathedral is in one of the oldest neighborhoods of Paris,
on the Île de la Cité.
It's been under restoration for a year.
This is footage of its last mass.
Those in attendance have no idea of the growing danger,
40 meters above them.
(alarm beeping).
In the attic, an alarm is triggered.
But the security guard on duty can't seem to find its exact location.
He wastes 30 precious minutes.
Meanwhile, the cathedral's frame,
built in the Middle Ages with the wood from 1,300 oak trees,
starts to burn.
When the security guard finally manages to locate the fire,
it's already out of control.
Mass is interrupted.
Worshipers are evacuated through the front entrance.
And they're oblivious to the drama unfolding.
In Paris, passers-by grow worried.
6:51pm.
Witnesses call for help.
They dial the number for emergency fire services.
DISPATCH (over radio): Firefighters, hello.
WOMAN (over phone): Notre Dame is on fire.
There's a big, big cloud of smoke.
NARRATOR: The cathedral staff has also alerted the fire brigade.
MAN (over phone): Okay we're on the way.
NARRATOR: The alert is immediately sent to the
fire station closest to Notre-Dame,
in the 5th arrondissement of Paris.
JÉRÔME: At that moment, your mind has to think very fast.
NARRATOR: Chief Warrant Officer Jérôme is the first
to get the call.
JÉRÔME: It wasn't even 7:00pm.
You'd never imagine that Notre-Dame could be on fire.
NARRATOR: In less than five minutes,
Jérôme reaches the cathedral square.
He's first on the scene.
But the situation is already critical.
The flames gnawing on the attic have already reached
the Cathedral's lead roof.
Alone in the square, Jérôme assesses the scale of the disaster.
He quickly calls in all the human and technical resources
he can to fight the fire.
JÉRÔME: I know that this job is going to be massive,
so I ask for maximum reinforcements.
MARC: It's the biggest call for backup a fire chief can make.
NARRATOR: 60 rescue centers in the Paris region,
a total of 600 firefighters all leap into action.
The sheer number is unprecedented.
(sirens, whistling).
(shouting, sirens).
JÉRÔME: There was a human tide.
Thousands of people.
(speaking in French).
NARRATOR: Around Notre-Dame, all is chaos and confusion.
MYRIAM: We don't know if there are any victims,
or where the fire is.
MAN (off-screen): Come on! Move back!
NARRATOR: Downtown, it's rush hour.
Firefighters struggle to reach the Île de la Cité.
Already they were called in long after the fire started.
Now, even more precious time is being lost.
GONTIER: If we were to compare this to a race,
my opponent has already started running 100 meters
in front of me.
NARRATOR: Leading the operations is General Gontier.
GONTIER: It's clear from the start that this will be an
extremely difficult battle.
Nothing is certain, absolutely nothing,
and we're petrified of losing the building.
NARRATOR: Gontier and his team are faced with extreme challenges.
How can they reach flames that are over 50 meters above them?
How can they save the cathedral's historical roof
and its frame?
Despite so many unknowns, one thing is clear...
MARC: We're going to put out this fire and defeat it.
The question is how do we start and where are
we going to stop it.
NARRATOR: Just meters from the cathedral,
TV and radio stations from around the world gather to
witness the catastrophe.
REPORTER (over TV): We have breaking news.
REPORTER (over TV): Breaking news story.
ANELISE (over TV): Consumed the...
NARRATOR: Anelise Borges is a reporter at Euronews.
She's one of the first journalists on the scene.
ANELISE: What exactly, were we watching,
were we watching a terrorist attack?
Were we watching an accident?
And, and just where was that going to go?
We were all just watching this huge piece of history go down in flames.
It was horrific.
NARRATOR: 7:01pm.
It's vital that the team gets closer to the flames
to try to slow down the spread of the fire.
(speaking French).
JÉRÔME: I know that, physically,
this is going to be grueling, exhausting, and complicated.
NARRATOR: The teams get ready.
But the cathedral's lead roof has already started to melt.
At the fire's core, temperatures have soared to
almost 1000 degrees Celsius.
MAN (off-screen): The top of the roof is melting.
NARRATOR: The firefighters approach the cathedral's
transept on the north side.
The first five of them climb up to roof level,
each carrying almost 30 kilos of gear on his back.
Their fire suits shield them from the extreme heat,
up to 150 degrees Celsius.
They set up two fire hoses less than eight meters
from the flames.
JÉRÔME: I reach the top and join my colleagues
and, yes, it's chaos.
NARRATOR: Now in full view of the blaze,
they take in the extreme precariousness of the situation.
MYRIAM: When we see the flames,
we know there is no margin for error.
NARRATOR: Chief Corporal Myriam is part of the first
team to reach the front.
MYRIAM: My goal is to be as quick as possible,
and to stop the flames, to stop the spread of the flames.
NARRATOR: Myriam shows incredible courage.
But the enemy is cunning.
Exposed to such high temperatures,
sections of the roof that still seem intact are actually
on the verge of burning up.
MYRIAM: There's no way we can just decide to give up.
We just keep going, we keep fighting.
I never once wanted to give up.
NARRATOR: 7:58pm.
Despite the team's efforts on the north side
of the cathedral's transept the enemy is spreading.
The cloud of smoke has turned yellow.
It's a sign the combustion is now extremely toxic.
An additional danger for the firefighters.
MARC: The flames are several tens of meters high.
Then and there, it's extremely impressive to see.
We're faced with a maelstrom of smoke and dust
and burning debris.
We're faced with this enemy,
this clearly very Dantesque fire.
NARRATOR: If the firefighters can't control the fire,
the entire cathedral will be lost.
And with it, all its priceless treasures.
Its stained glass works.
Its 13th century rosettes.
The crown of thorns allegedly worn by Jesus.
All these marvels are in jeopardy.
Because pieces of the charred frames are now falling into
the very interior of Notre-Dame.
NARRATOR: The entire east side of the rooftop is in flames.
As the battle continues on the roof a second team of
firefighters has entered the cathedral,
on a mission to save its masterpieces.
The place is an extreme danger zone,
with ember and melted lead falling from above.
But they have no choice, if they want to save the
buildings' precious works of art.
Paintings, sacred vases.
Especially the crown of thorns.
According to legend, it would have been worn by
Christ before his crucifixion.
It's a race against time to reach the sacristy
at the far end of the building.
It's there that the most priceless treasures are stored
a unique window into centuries of history.
It takes hours for the team to move all these
precious items to safety.
Exfiltrated one by one, the relics will be kept at the
City Hall, 700 meters from Notre-Dame.
Among them is this red box containing the crown of
thorns, saved from the blaze.
In the crowds along the Seine,
the scale of the catastrophe is starting to sink in.
Notre-Dame de Paris, intact just hours ago,
is now going up in smoke.
ANELISE: I thought the whole night was like, it can't be happening.
It was so hard to accept that it was happening and
that, it seemed like it was unstoppable,
that fire the, it was so ferocious.
NARRATOR: This isn't a bad dream.
Nor is it a movie.
Notre-Dame is in flames.
The cathedral is one of the most visited monuments in Europe.
Visitors come to admire its architecture,
its stained glass, and its organ.
Its construction began in 1163,
and took more than a century.
It was quickly hailed as a masterpiece of gothic art.
Notre-Dame became the most important place of worship in
the Kingdom of France.
In 1594, during the French Wars of Religions,
it was here that King Henri IV celebrated his
reconquest of Paris.
Two centuries later, the cathedral was witness
to the French Revolution.
In 1804, it was where Napoleon was declared Emperor of the French.
Notre-Dame then became a national symbol.
It survived the Nazi invasion.
And on August 26, 1944 it was here that General de Gaulle
celebrated the Liberation of Paris.
But tonight, 856 years of history are going up in smoke.
Around Notre Dame, the police department has put up security barriers.
For the firefighters, reality has sunk in...
they've lost the first battle.
But General Gontier won't give up hope.
In the face of the inferno,
he runs through possible strategies.
Aerial images give him an overall impression of the battlefield.
Firefighters have set up their headquarters on the cathedral square.
Commander of the brigade, General Gallet makes sure the
operation runs smoothly,
while General Gontier decides on a plan of attack.
High-ranking colleagues keep him updated as
the situation evolves.
From this central nervous system,
Gontier makes all his decisions.
GONTIER: From the very moment I arrive,
I know this is going to require a massive amount of resources,
both human and material.
NARRATOR: Questions run through the General's mind.
How can they tame a fire that's already spreading in
all directions?
How can they trap a beast that's growing more voracious
by the second?
FIREFIGHTER: For now you set up the elevated arms,
I'll go see General Gontier on the other side
to request back up.
NARRATOR: Dropping water from fire-fighting planes is out of the question.
It would severely damage the cathedral's structure.
So General Gontier opts for another strategy.
Deploying 13 aerial elevated arms all around the cathedral.
These are powerful weapons...
each arm can attack the fire with almost 4000 liters of water per minute.
But the network of fire hydrants around Notre Dame
can't meet the need for such an immense volume of water.
So what now?
Where can they get the mass of water they need?
NARRATOR: General Gontier calls in two boat pumps.
The firefighters quickly lay out a massive hydraulic
network to pump water from the Seine.
Linking up several kilometers of pipes.
The scale of the Notre Dame inferno is now equivalent to
500 simultaneous apartment fires.
GONTIER: We know very well that anything we dare to plan
on the site will be brutally confronted by reality.
NARRATOR: The entire country is in shock.
The president of the Republic and the
prime minister arrive on site.
They are literally speechless.
And haunted by one question.
How could one of the most prestigious monuments in the
history of France catch fire?
What could explain this catastrophe?
And where did the fire start from?
Officials quickly hypothesize on the scaffolding around the building.
For several months, Notre Dame has been under restoration.
Massive scaffolding has been put in place around
its majestic spire.
A few days earlier, the statues of the twelve apostles
that stood just below were removed.
Could the construction site be the culprit?
Could the fire have been started by an
electric short circuit?
Carelessness on the part of one of the workers?
At this point, no theory can be ignored.
General Gontier's strategy is put in place.
But very quickly, a problem arises.
The elevated arms aren't long enough to reach the blaze.
They're still too short to reach over the roof and
directly attack the inferno.
But the team could never have predicted
their biggest obstacle...
the wind is stirring up the flames and blowing
the water away from the target.
JÉRÔME: At that moment,
I know we won't be able to stop the fire,
but we may limit how fast it spreads.
NARRATOR: The firefighters must face the fact.
The fire is completely out of control...
Outside and inside.
The fire of Notre Dame reaches its highest point of 96 meters.
The spire, made up of 500 tons of wood and
25 tons of lead, is now ablaze.
General Gontier and his team start to fear the worst-case scenario.
What if the spire of Notre Dame collapses?
Could it risk the lives of the five firefighters
just a few meters away?
Among them is Chief Corporal Myriam.
The fire reaches a point of no return.
The whole of the spire is aflame.
It's the symbol of renewal for Notre Dame de Paris.
Its incredible history begins in the 13th century,
when the first spire was erected on the cathedral.
But during the French Revolution,
Notre Dame was seriously damaged.
The spire was weakened and ended up disassembled.
Thanks though to French writer Victor Hugo,
the building was saved.
In 1831, his most famous novel,
The hunchback of Notre-Dame, was published.
And the cathedral found its way back into the
hearts of the French.
It underwent a 20 year long restoration by the famous
architect Viollet le Duc,
who oversaw the sculpting of the building's
infamous gargoyles.
But today, the famous tall spire is in grave danger.
Despite the risk, despite their exhaustion,
Myriam and her team don't give up.
They painstakingly try to keep the flames from spreading.
But now that the spire is engulfed,
there's an even bigger danger.
JÉRÔME: If the spire crumbles, everything could crumble.
So, we are afraid for our team and our captain who are up there.
NARRATOR: Just an hour and a half after the fire began,
the unthinkable happens.
MAN (off-screen): It's tilted, it's going to crash.
ANELISE: And then I heard this collective gasp,
this collective "Wow".
(gasping).
WOMAN (off-screen): Oh no! No, no, no.
NARRATOR: But Myriam is still at the top of the transept.
Captain Marc is with her.
MYRIAM: That's when we heard a massive sound.
MARC: Instinctively I turn my head toward this huge thud,
and that's when I see that the spire is collapsing.
MAN (off-screen): Oh my God.
(screams).
JÉRÔME: The spire collapses into the cathedral.
GONTIER: When the spire falls, it's clear we've just entered
a whole new phase of the catastrophe.
NARRATOR: The General's biggest fear has become reality.
His men and women are in danger.
Those inside, but especially Myriam, Marc,
and three others still on the roof.
MARC: Then and there, our instinct is clear.
We need to retreat. To seek protection.
To draw back a few meters and take shelter in the stone tower.
NARRATOR: At the top of the transept's north side,
the five firefighters get the radio order to evacuate.
They begin their descent of the transept's interior stairwell.
But on their way down, they get trapped...
one of the doors is stuck.
MARC: We realized that one of the doors had shut,
and we were quite simply trapped.
NARRATOR: Several minutes have passed since the spire fell.
Outside, firefighters are fearing the worst
for their colleagues.
The General has ordered an evacuation,
but the five firefighters on the transept's north side have not returned.
JÉRÔME: We then have a really horrible feeling, a real fear.
That's when he says to me.
Go get them.
NARRATOR: Chief Warrant Officer Jérôme runs off
to the rescue.
He climbs up the transept's interior staircase and
manages to unblock the door.
Thankfully, his colleagues are safe and sound.
JÉRÔME: When the spire collapsed,
it created a big gust of air that shut all the doors
in the cathedral's towers.
MYRIAM: If the spire had fallen on us,
we wouldn't be here to talk about it.
MARC: Looking back, I think we were very lucky.
NARRATOR: The sun sets over the helpless crowds.
Minutes pass, and catastrophe is unavoidable.
Parisians look on in terror.
They thought Notre Dame was eternal.
Now it's being reduced to ashes.
ANELISE: I just remember seeing all those people and
just not hearing anything.
It was super quiet.
I think then the feeling was, we are starting to lose her.
We are starting to lose the Notre-Dame.
NARRATOR: The fire has so far engulfed 2800 square meters of the roof.
General Gontier needs a new strategy.
But how can he keep fighting the fire without
putting his men and women's lives on the line?
GONTIER: It's chaos.
Quite clearly, it's absolute chaos.
NARRATOR: For the head of operations, time is ticking.
Because the wind is speeding up the spread of the flames.
At this critical moment.
The firefighters deploy a cutting-edge weapon.
The Colossus.
Since 2017, this 100% electric robot has been revolutionizing
the field of firefighting intervention.
It's extremely versatile.
Packed with the very latest in sensor and camera technology.
Designed with a 360-degree fire hose that can project
3000 liters of water per minute.
The Colossus was specially designed for huge fires like this.
In the fight to save Notre Dame,
it's an indispensable ally.
The roof and its frame are destroyed.
But what about the cathedral's structure and bearing walls?
The firefighters start to fear the ultimate disaster.
The complete collapse of the building.
With the fall of the spire,
the cathedral's majestic vault has been punctured in places.
And the whole building depends on an
intricate balance of weight.
The flying buttresses on the sides of the building are
counterbalanced by the weight of the vault.
But now, they're pushing on the internal walls.
Weakening the entire structure.
DE CHÂLUS: Once the vault collapses,
the flying buttresses will start to put pressure on the wall.
There is no more counter-pressure from the
vault to compensate for the weight of
the flying buttresses.
Since the inside is compromised,
the arcs will start to push inwards.
We need to monitor this carefully in case this
actually leads to the inward collapse of the entire cathedral.
NARRATOR: And something else may collapse.
On the top corner of the transept's north side is a small triangle,
called the gable.
The gable was the end panel of the roof,
which has now been reduced to ashes.
And it's now extremely weak, because of the heat.
The firefighters realize something terrifying.
The gable is swinging in the wind,
and could fall onto the nearby street.
With the help of police authorities,
they evacuate all the nearby buildings.
But for how much longer will Notre Dame be standing?
9:36pm.
From his commanding post, General Gontier makes another
terrifying discovery.
Flames and thick smoke can be seen around the
north tower, the belfry.
Strong gusts of wind are pushing the fire towards it.
Inside the tower are eight bells,
hung from a huge wooden frame.
If this structure burns, the bells will fall.
The firefighters fear the cathedral could then
completely collapse like a house of cards.
JÉRÔME: We know we've lost the roof.
From the moment the roof is gone,
we need to save the towers.
ANELISE: Suddenly the possibility of losing the
church was real.
GONTIER: It's a critical moment.
NARRATOR: How can they stop the spread of the inferno?
General Gontier has only moments to decide what to do next.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: The General is faced with a dilemma.
Save his men and women and accept defeat?
Or send a new team into the belfry,
putting their lives in jeopardy?
The 600 firefighters on site await his orders.
The General studies the drone images of the war zone.
His worries are confirmed...
The tower is in danger.
And consequently, so is the entire cathedral.
Time is running out.
GONTIER: Sometimes you're not sure you're making the right decision,
but you do what it takes to make it the best.
Should we risk endangering our men and women's lives by
sending them on such a mission?
I must admit it's a very difficult decision for us.
I'll tell you why.
In the last year, the brigade lost 4 men,
and we don't want to endanger our people's lives by sending them
in a potentially useless battle.
NARRATOR: 3 months earlier, on January the 12, 2019.
A massive explosion, caused by a gas leak,
hit the rue de Trévise, in central Paris.
The firefighters lost two of their colleagues in the blast.
On this April the 15th, that tragedy is still fresh in their minds.
After 15 minutes of deliberation,
General Gontier finally decides to risk it all.
Send in a team of 20 firefighters in one final
desperate attempt to control the fire.
The operation is extremely dangerous.
But none of the firefighters hesitates for a moment.
GONTIER (off-screen): They're ready to go into battle,
and I use the term battle because that's what it is now.
ANELISE: Everybody I think wanted to do something that night.
The idea of going any closer to that fire was crazy.
And they were doing it.
NARRATOR: There's no going back.
The 20 brave soldiers head towards the cathedral,
with one clear mission.
Finally put a definitive stop to the spread of the fire.
A first squad of five firefighters
enters the building.
They quickly climb the 380 steps that lead to the belfry.
Their objective is to create a clear line of separation
between the roof fire and the two towers.
It's what the firefighters call "cutting their losses."
Lieutenant Alexis is the squad leader.
ALEXIS: If we can't do it, we'll have to retreat.
Now the goal is to accomplish the mission, and to succeed.
MARC: And on that night,
it was inconceivable that we'd leave a heap of ashes behind us.
That night, failure was simply not an option.
NARRATOR: The battle for the belfry begins.
The boat pumps are at full capacity.
The firefighters are working at maximum human and technical capacity.
They're playing their last card.
Up at the belfry, the 20 firefighters are on the front line.
But it's too late.
The fire has already spread to the frame that holds the bells.
Alexis and his men are given the order to climb up to the
bells to get as close as possible to the flames.
From the first floor of the north belfry,
they take in the extent of the danger.
One staircase is already charred.
In this hand to hand combat, there is no margin for error.
ALEXIS: We see these flames engulfing the beams and the frame.
And that the fire is still spreading towards the inside
of the building.
At that moment, a big section of the floor is on fire,
and I tell my chief on the radio that the floor
might not hold if we move forward.
So my colleagues and I slowly creep forward,
testing each step to make sure it can hold us.
JÉRÔME: If the tower crumbles,
our people up there can't come down.
We would lose them.
NARRATOR: The worst-case scenario seems to have become reality.
Without any information or clues,
the crowd is increasingly distraught.
And the authorities are far from reassuring.
ANELISE: I think there was a space of an hour where we did not know.
We did not know.
And it was official from,
from authorities that there was a possibility
that the church could crumble the structure of
this piece of history could go.
NARRATOR: Taking in the sight of the furious red flames.
Onlookers are frozen with worry.
At stake in these next few minutes is the
very survival of Notre Dame.
The firefighters redouble their efforts.
Captain Marc,
Chief Corporal Myriam, Lieutenant Alexis,
Chief Warrant Officer Jérôme.
And of course, General Gontier.
♪ ♪
Then, slowly, the balance of power tips over.
To everyone's surprise, the fire starts to pull back.
Thanks to their courage, perseverance, and hope,
the belfry firefighters are slowly getting the upper hand.
It's 10:27pm when the news comes in...
the fire is now officially under control.
A few flames continue to burn.
Putting out the fire completely will continue
through the night.
But one thing is sure.
Notre Dame de Paris is still standing.
GONTIER: I was proud of what the team accomplished that night.
When I looked up at the façade,
I saw our Notre Dame of Paris as immortal.
(applause).
JÉRÔME: When we were near the crowd, they applauded us,
they let us pass, they said thank you.
(applause).
MYRIAM: For some people we are heroes.
But for me, I think we just did our job!
(applause).
JÉRÔME: I'm not a hero, my men and women are not heroes,
everyone just did their job.
NARRATOR: For 7 hours,
the firefighters gave their all.
They committed themselves, body and soul,
for Notre Dame of Paris.
They risked their lives; two firefighters and one policeman
suffered slight injuries.
There's still work to do, to secure the zone and
extinguish residual flames.
It's the middle of the night,
and smoke is still rising from Notre Dame.
NARRATOR: Early the next morning, at 7:00am.
A team of firefighters and experts enters the cathedral.
It's now time to assess the damage.
And try to understand how the unthinkable has happened.
What they see is apocalyptic.
In the choir and where the altar once stood is debris
from the carbonized spire.
Three massive holes in the ceiling open up to the sky.
Inside the belfry, firefighters find a war zone.
The bells are still in place.
But the frame has been charred by the flames.
Incredibly, the great organ is unscathed.
The north rosette, which the flames came so close to,
has been spared.
And the gable that threatened to collapse is still standing.
Notre Dame is gravely burned.
But it's still there,
overlooking the City of Lights.
The tragedy is recent, but now,
the team must look forward.
And try to find out what caused the fire.
Cigarette ends?
A short circuit on the restoration site?
The investigation will have to hone in on what happened.
And all will be done to make sure this never happens again.
Notre Dame was shaken to the core.
But hopefully, as the cathedral has done
countless times in the past,
it will mend its wounds from history.
(music plays through credits).
Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services.