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Notre Dame Paris fire: Monuments are the emotional backbone of France, and when one burns, the nation weeps. That accounts for the despair over a blaze that killed no one, yet seared the collective soul. It is the power Notre Dame had, and still has, despite the charred scars on its Gothic walls. In more than 12-hour battle to extinguish the flames that engulfed Paris' iconic Notre Dame cathedral, firefighters declared success. What remained was a blackened shell of the monument immortalized in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," a building that had survived almost 900 years of tumultuous French history. Let us take a look at how the Paris firefighters courageously extinguished flames that engulfed Paris' iconic Notre Dame cathedral:
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The two iconic 69-meter bell towers remained intact and swarmed with building specialists and architects at dawn, looking tiny from the ground as they conducted analysis. (AP Photo)
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However, the cathedral's spire and roof were gone. (AP Photo)
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Paris firefighters spokesman said "the entire fire is out" and that emergency services are currently "surveying the movement of the structures and extinguishing smoldering residues." (AP Photo)
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Officials consider the fire an accident, possibly as a result of restoration work taking place at the global architectural treasure, but that news has done nothing to ease the national mourning. (AP Photo)
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The 12th-century church is home to relics, stained glass and other works of art of incalculable value, and is a leading tourist attraction. (AP Photo)
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Across the nation, the pain was equally felt, especially because just about every region has a similar treasure to cherish. (AP Photo)
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The nearly 900-year-old cathedral has endured the French Revolution, the Nazi occupation and countless bouts of unrest before and since. Now, its ashes were falling from the sky in gritty flecks damped by fire hoses that appeared increasingly futile as new sections of the building caught fire. (AP Photo)
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For all, it was clear the monument transcended its religious meaning and instead was a symbol of European civilization. (AP Photo)
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