PARIS — For years, restoration experts worried that the fragile copper figures risked plunging to earth from Notre-Dame cathedral’s 19th-century spire.

Instead, in a miracle of timing, the sculptures of the Twelve Apostles and four New Testament evangelists escaped a fiery end when they were plucked by cranes and removed just days before the blaze in Paris on Monday. It was a small cause for celebration after the destruction of two-thirds of Notre-Dame’s roof and spire. People were also cheered to learn that crosses, a crown of thorns and the famous rose window also survived the flames.

It was a relief not to contemplate the likely fate of the spire’s sculptures if they had stayed where they had been for the last 160 years. A cock — the Gallic rooster that topped the spire, and the unofficial national symbol of France — was found in the debris with significant damage.