Another French cathedral burns, raising safety questions

How can we not think about the blaze at Notre-Dame de Paris over a year ago or not remember the devastating fire in Nantes Cathedral back in 1972?

Fifteen months after the disaster in the heart of the French capital, St. Peter and Paul's Cathedral in Nantes -- about 240 miles southwest of Paris -- was hit by flames on the morning of July 18, destroying its great 17th century organ. 

Local residents alerted the fire brigade, who contained the fire in about two hours.

An investigation was immediately opened for arson, and a volunteer from the diocese was taken into custody on Saturday afternoon while the forensic police tried to establish the origin of the disaster.

The man "was responsible for closing the cathedral on Friday evening and the investigators wanted to clarify certain elements of his schedule," said Nantes public prosecutor Pierre Sennès on Sunday, July 19.

He said there was no evidence of a break-in at the external accesses to the Gothic building. 

"There is nothing that directly connects my client to the fire in the cathedral," said Quentin Chabert, lawyer for “Emanuel”, the 39-year-old man of Rwandan origin who was in police custody and later released.

He is one of "a few dozen volunteers" who work during the day at the cathedral, according to the diocesan administrator, Father François Renaud.

The priest said the volunteers "do not have the key" to the church.

Emmanuel "has been there for four or five years" and "regularly inspects the candles and closes the four accesses", explained Father Hubert Champenois, the cathedral rector. 

"I have full confidence in this man. He had been an altar server,” he said. 

“I am at peace with the continuation of the investigation. I think he could never have done that," the rector insisted.

What lessons have other cathedrals learned from last year’s fire at Notre-Dame?

In terms of fire safety, the Nantes Cathedral was well taken care of.

"The five-year visit by the officer from the Paris fire brigade, delegated by the ministry, took place in June 2019, followed by a fire safety inspection in November," explained Philippe Cieren, head of the security mission for the Heritage Inspection Service.

"The entire security system was operational," said Father Renaud, who is overseeing the Diocese of Nantes, which has been without a bishop since last November.

He emphasizes that "the electrical installations were regularly checked".

After the fire at Notre-Dame, the State -- which owns all of the 87 cathedrals in France -- set up a "Cathedral Security". It was launched last November  with a budget of two million euros. That is in addition to the 40 million euros the government spends each year on these monuments.

The Fire Safety Commission has so far positively assessed 81 of the cathedrals.

The plan also provides for the financing of works that go beyond regulatory standards, such as attic partitions or staircase enclosures.

These works - which will be defined on a case-by-case basis - have not yet been started. 

Lastly, for each cathedral, a "cultural property safeguarding plan" must identify the important works, locate them and provide for their evacuation in the event of a disaster. 

On this point, there is a long delay. Some 20 (out of 87) have now been completed.

In Nantes, this plan was operational.

Despite the losses, the cabinet of the Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, was assured that "the evacuation of the works worked perfectly".

Who is responsible for fire safety?

As the owner of the monuments, which are further classified, the State is doubly responsible for the cathedrals. The decision to install fire detection systems rests with the State.

The cathedrals of France are far from being fully equipped, "barely half of them," says Philippe Cieren.

In Nantes, the alarm worked, according to Valérie Gaudard, regional curator of historical monuments for the Pays de la Loire region.

"Cathedrals are great monuments, not well known, and their security involves many actors (architects of buildings in France, chief architects of historic monuments, firefighters, conservationists, staff, etc.). Training and dialogue are essential," pointed out Henry Masson, Regional Curator of Historic Monuments in Brittany and President of the College of Historic Monuments.

In a telephone conversation with the President of the Republic on July 18, Bishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the French Bishops' Conference (CEF), stressed that the fire in the Nantes Cathedral "makes it more urgent to implement the security plan" already discussed in March.

"There is a real willingness on both sides to move forward on this issue, but then quickly comes the question of concrete means, which, for the moment, are clearly not sufficient," said Father Thierry Magnin, general secretary and spokesman of the CEF.

"Without letting it appear that nothing has been done, we once again demand that the issue of securing the cathedrals be addressed so that this can be improved," he insisted.

Why aren't cathedrals guarded?

The fire in the Nantes Cathedral is a reminder that France's cathedrals are not guarded at night. Only in Notre-Dame de Paris was there a human presence before the fire of April 15, 2019.

"The surveillance system at Notre-Dame was clearly the most advanced. There is no cathedral that has a person dedicated to surveillance day and night," confirmed a senior official from the Ministry of Culture.

Should the presence of guards or night watchmen be systematized, as in so many office buildings?

"It's something that could exist, it's not a dream, and it's one of the solutions for avoiding this kind of disaster," said Henry Masson.

"But the Ministry of Culture, with its policy of reducing the number of civil servants, is not going in this direction," he stressed.

"Cathedrals and churches are the first museums in France, and no one would imagine that a museum is not guarded," said Julien Lacaze, president of the preservation society of Sites et Monuments.

Over the centuries, the presence of the faithful - and especially the clergy - made it possible to ensure continuous and widespread surveillance of the sites.

With the decline in religious practice, the question of surveillance takes on a new dimension. 

"The best safety factor against fire and theft is the presence of the faithful," emphasized Julien Lacaze.

"A church where people are always present benefits in security. This is why it should not be believed that closing churches would provide better protection."