I came in expecting a small incident but my god. Firstly I hope everyone is safe. But this is a real conflagration- The smoke damage alone is already catastrophic.
I had an amazing pun but I almost yelled at myself when I saw these pictures. Just tragic. Last time I felt such a giant historical wrench was the Windsor palace blaze and the taliban destruction of the ancient Buddhas and the unknowable destruction of artifacts and art by Isis. Iraq also suffered horrible destruction and theft of art and history .
This is just one section of the interior and the damage will be awful even if the flames don't reach it. There's tapestries and art and books galore in there.
I know the Eiffel Tower is more iconic but this place has always been the heart of Paris for me and historically it's been at the center of French history too many times to say.