Former President Barack Obama posted a moving family photo on social media honoring Notre Dame Cathedral in the wake of the blaze that struck the historic location on Monday.
Notre Dame is one of the world’s great treasures, and we’re thinking of the people of France in your time of grief. It’s in our nature to mourn when we see history lost – but it’s also in our nature to rebuild for tomorrow, as strong as we can. pic.twitter.com/SpMEvv1BzB
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 15, 2019
“Notre Dame is one of the world’s great treasures, and we’re thinking of the people of France in your time of grief. It’s in our nature to mourn when we see history lost – but it’s also in our nature to rebuild for tomorrow, as strong as we can,” Obama wrote along with the photo on Twitter.
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In the picture, we can see Obama with daughters Sasha and Malia lighting candles during a past visit to the cathedral. Michelle Obama is also pictured with her back to the camera. The candid shot captures the essence of the cathedral and what today’s fire meant for so many.
As he notes, some of the iconic structures at the church were lost in the blaze. This includes the iconic spire at the church as seen captured by news coverage of the blaze. The medieval stained glass windows of the cathedral were also reportedly destroyed by the fire and eyewitnesses reported that part of the cathedral’s roof collapsed.
Thankfully, the nearly 400 firefighters who tackled the blaze managed to save and “preserve” the main buildings and were reportedly close to protecting the two main towers of the structure.
Obama’s comments stood in different territory than President Donald Trump’s take on the disaster. While the former president paid tribute to the building through his own experiences, the current president urged the firefighters to work quickly to save the structure and even offered his own strategy.
“Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!” the president wrote on Twitter. Officials in Paris refuted this suggestion, noting that any water dropped on the structure would damage it and possibly cause it to fall completely. Luckily, the latest reports seem to indicate that firemen were successful with their efforts, though one firefighter was allegedly seriously injured by the blaze.
Many were shocked and devastated by the fire and the destruction caused on Monday, flooding social media with tributes, thoughts, and images of Notre Dame Cathedral from before the fire.
According to early reports, the fire started accidentally as a result of continuing construction on the historical building. In many shots of the fire in news coverage featured scaffolding visible in most shots.
