2018 Brazil fire at Rio museum. The museum is owned by the government. That government overspends on “important” things but defers maintenance on less important things. “Sorry, we didn’t have money for a sprinkler system. Not our fault.”
2019 French fire at Paris cathedral. The cathedral is owned by the government. That government overspends on “important” things but defers maintenance on less important things. “Sorry, we didn’t have money for a sprinkler system. …”
After we absorb the emotional tragedy and when the finger-pointing begins in earnest, let this be part of the mix.
The fire started on the roof. Pictures today of the interior show that virtually nothing at ground level burned except where the steeple fell. ND is currently undergoing a massive renovation, but the fire started after construction workers had packed up for the day.
A sprinkler system would consequently have no effect what-so-ever on yesterday’s fire.
While your point is valid in general, there is no evidence that yesterday’s fire in Paris is a valid example.
>>A sprinkler system would consequently have no effect what-so-ever on yesterday’s fire.
Is your point that with modern engineering there’s no way to install a sprinkler or other fire suppression system for a cathedral roof?
They have not put electricity in this part of the cathedral due to fears of fires. That the roof was prone to fire was a very well known issue. No satisfactory solution was found.
There was also strict rules with regard to the repairs that were going on because of the potential for fires. Whatever went wrong we’ll learn from the mistakes and do better next time.
I doubt money was the issue, there was a decade long maintenance work in the 90s, many smaller repair works since then and the one that started last year was going to be a 100 million euros repair work over 20 years.
I hope that when they rebuild it they use fire resistant materials or wood treatments to reduce the likelihood of this happening again. At least this time we know how to do it.
Relevant to this thread: “How Did Notre Dame Come to Be So Neglected? It will take money to fix years of neglect. But help is, at last, on its way.” https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-04-16/how-did-paris-notre-dame-fall-into-such-disrepair