Notre-Dame: Seven years later, the origin of the fire remains an unsolved case

Seven years. In the life of a cathedral, it's a blink of an eye; for a judicial investigation, it's an eternity that eventually takes its toll. Since the night of April 15, 2019, when Viollet-le-Duc's spire collapsed and the thousand-year-old timber frame, "the forest," went up in smoke, the origin of the disaster has still not been definitively established publicly.

The proceedings, opened for "involuntary destruction", remain under the authority of the Paris public prosecutor's office. From the outset, the investigations have focused on the hypothesis of an accident related to the restoration work, a lead regularly mentioned in judicial communications, without a technical explanation being established at this stage, particularly because the physical evidence was damaged by the collapse and carbonization.

An accidental lead, a lot of ashes, and few certainties.

On the ground, this uncertainty acts like a draft in a nave: it always returns. Experts have scrutinized the electrical installation, the scaffolding, the fire safety devices, but the possibility of a short circuit, a power tool, or a slower-burning fire in the attic still lingers, even among personnel present on site, without these scenarios constituting a legal conclusion.

Meanwhile, the securing and restoration work is progressing on its own timeline, following a trajectory distinct from the investigation, driven by the political objective declared in 2019 and the promise of a 2024 reopening, against a backdrop of fundraising appeals. The persistent impression remains, on the part of the justice system, that the case is moving forward at a snail's pace: the cathedral is being rebuilt before the nation's eyes, while the truth continues to elude us.