Smoke filled the skies of the French capital on Monday evening after the Notre Dame Cathedral was devastated by a huge fire. The iconic spire and a large part of the cathedral’s roof was destroyed by the blaze as firefighters rushed to try to contain the fire at around 6pm local time. Speaking on Good Morning Britain, author Ken Follett questioned the speed of the inferno which struck the 850-year-old Gothic masterpiece.
He said: “You would expect a fire that was big heavy oak timbers, you would expect it to be really slow and smoky.
“Yet, a friend of mine saw the first smoke just before 7pm and she said that by 7.30pm it was a conflagration.
“That is very fast. So there’s something else going on.”
He added: “What happens, those rafters burn and then the roof collapses.
Notre Dame fire: Author claims there's 'something else going on' (Image: GETTY•ITV)
You would expect a fire that was big heavy oak timbers, you would expect it to be really slow and smoky
Ken Follett
“The roof of Notre Dame was made of lead tiles, the timbers burn and collapse. The roof falls down.
“All of that debris
