Smoke and flames rise during a fire at the landmark Notre Dame Cathedral in central Paris on April 15. | Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images white house Trump suggests deploying flying water tankers for 'horrible' fire at Notre Dame Cathedral

As Paris’ historic Notre-Dame Cathedral burned Monday, President Donald Trump tweeted about the “horrible” sight and suggested that the French deploy flying water tankers to quell the flames engulfing the iconic church.

“So horrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris,” the president wrote on Twitter. “Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!”


The Associated Press reported that firefighters responded to a massive blaze in the French capital on Monday as flames and black smoke were seen billowing from the top of the medieval cathedral, one of Paris’ most famous landmarks.

The cause of the fire was unknown, though French media reported that it might be linked to renovation work being done in the peak of the church.

France‘s civil defense agency said in a tweet later Monday that firefighters were doing “everything they can to bring the terrible #NotreDame fire under control,” pointedly announcing that it would not use aircraft to douse the blaze for fear they would further damage the building.

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“All means are being used, except for water-bombing aircrafts which, if used, could lead to the collapse of the entire structure of the cathedral,” the agency said.

When news of the fire broke, Trump was aboard Air Force One en route to Minnesota for a roundtable discussion on tax cuts and the U.S. economy. Fox News started airing footage of the burning monument 10 minutes before the plane landed.

Speaking later at the Minnesota event, the president called the blaze “something like few people have witnessed.”

“It's one of the great treasures of the world,” Trump said, adding that he‘d visited the church and there was “probably no cathedral in the world like it.”

As the sun began to set in Paris, Notre-Dame‘s spire collapsed. The Catholic church burned on the second day of Holy Week, just six days before Easter.

“It's a terrible sight to behold,” Trump said.

People around the world took to social media to lament the destruction of the church, which draws millions of tourists each year. First responders rushed to salvage precious art and artifacts from the cathedral as the wooden interior burned, The AP reported.

“Notre Dame is an iconic symbol of faith to people all over the world — and it is heartbreaking to see a house of God in flames,” Vice President Mike Pence said on Twitter. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the firefighters on the scene and all the people of Paris.”

Lawmakers and other U.S. officials weighed in on social media as well, expressing sadness about the damage to the historic church and praying for the safety of those on the scene.

President Emanuel Macron of France said in a tweet on Monday that his thoughts and prayers were with the French and Catholics as spectators around the world watched the blaze rip through the cathedral. For the French, Macron said, to see Notre-Dame burn was to see “a part of us being on fire.”