After roughly nine hours, French firefighters managed to bring the blaze at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris under control. Two police officers and one firefighter were injured during the operation.

Around 400 firefighters were deployed to fight the fire, which began at approximately 6:50pm local time (16:50 GMT) Monday. Rescue workers stopped short of waterbombing the structure in order to bring the blaze under control, but still managing to avoid the worst-case scenario of total collapse of the historic and iconic 35-meter tall building.

“Two policemen and one fireman were slightly injured,” France’s national fire service said in a tweet Tuesday morning.

2/2 Après plus de 9h de combats acharnés, près de 400 pompiers de Paris sont venus à bout de l’effroyable l’incendie. 2 policiers et un sapeur-pompier ont été légèrement blessés. pic.twitter.com/re9ZR0KB3W — Pompiers de Paris (@PompiersParis) April 16, 2019

The emergency services shared a plethora of photos and video of the unprecedented firefighting operation.

#Intervention en cours à #NotreDameUn dispositif important est déployé. Merci de ne pas encombrer la ligne 18/112, laissez libre accès aux sapeurs-pompiers de Paris, pour leur permettre d’intervenir dans les meilleures conditions. pic.twitter.com/jRiHoNo6rf — Pompiers de Paris (@PompiersParis) April 15, 2019

1/2 #Intervention#NotreDame : la structure de la cathédrale est sauvée et les principales œuvres d’art ont été sauvegardées, grâce à l'action combinée des différents services de l'État engagés à nos côtés. pic.twitter.com/0GJZKAdYdM — Pompiers de Paris (@PompiersParis) April 16, 2019

Instaurer un périmètre de sécurité, évacuer les riverains, combattre sans relâche les flammes… Les forces de #secours & de #sécurité sont mobilisées depuis plus de 3h et utilisent tous les moyens à leur disposition pr lutter contre l'incendie #NotreDame#Paris#HérosduQuotidienpic.twitter.com/TsD1QfdC0V — Ministère de l'Intérieur (@Place_Beauvau) April 15, 2019

Notre Dame Cathedral has survived the French Revolution and two World Wars, among other threats over the centuries since it was begun in 1160. French President Emmanuel Macron has already vowed to rebuild the cathedral, alluding to an international fundraising campaign to restore the structure to its former glory.

Also on rt.com ‘French history on fire’: Macron vows to rebuild Notre Dame with help of greatest talents worldwide

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!