Small increase in stress, this Monday evening, for the gendarmerie officer on duty in Senlis (Oise).
At the beginning of the evening, the telephone rings to announce the start of a fire within the cathedral of the commune.
“I said to myself:
Oh no, here after Notre Dame…
”, he breathes.
Fortunately, the event that affected the Gothic church built in the 12th century is in no way comparable to the drama that affected the Parisian building in April 2019.
Saint Joseph saved from the flames
Quickly, the firefighters of Senlis, supplemented by reinforcements from Creil, were able to identify and circumscribe the fire which had only affected a wooden statue.
A work representing Saint Joseph, patron saint of workers and craftsmen, who was able to be taken out of the cathedral by the soldiers of the fire, who extinguished the flames on the forecourt.
The interior of the building was not affected.
But very quickly, on social networks, some expressed doubts about the origin of these flames.
The “Bizarre” and “Encore” follow one another.
Some are almost surprised that a wooden statue can catch fire.
“The fire did not catch on its own,” writes a user.
It is probably a candle, placed by a faithful too close to the base, which would have caused this fire to start.
For the diocese of Oise, this is an opportunity to remember "that you do not put a candle near a statue, even if the prayer intentions are strong".
For the diocesan officials, nothing alarming: “thanks to the rapid intervention of the firefighters, this remains a banal accident.
The structure and the frame were not affected, the fire did not have time to spread.
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