Firefighters battle flames on the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. Photo/Getty Images

At the time of publication, the investigation is just ramping up on just what happened to start the blaze that has destroyed much of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France.

Just in case you have not heard, the fire began on Monday, April 15, at 6:20 p.m., (that is 18:20 if you are in ROTC). Just as they were closing the cathedral to visitors for the day, a fire alarm rang out. When they checked the attic, which is nicknamed “the forest” because it took a forest of trees to build it, they realized that they had a major problem; the church was on fire. Within a short period of time, the entire roof and the beautiful spire were engulfed in flames.

Luckily it seems as though much of the priceless art and artifacts have been spared, but this is an event and a loss for the city of Paris, the French people and all of Western Civilization. What does this loss mean to us, all the way over here in Passaic, New Jersey? Let’s find out.

“The burning of the Notre Dame is devastating. To think that a big monument for the world would burn in 20 minutes. For me mean only a monument that became famous for the oldest and some movies use in the settings. For the world mean, it is a holy relic and being lost; people even cry for that loss. In my opinion about this catastrophe is that people worried more about a monument than the hunger and poverty around the world. People should be less worried about a new Notre Dame and more worried about humanity today. It is sad to me that people are more worried about a monument, than for the safety and hunger of those around them.
– Margarita Lino-Vanegas

I think it was such a tragic incident to what happen to the Notre Dame. The Notre Dame was such an iconic & monumental place from the history of Paris. For most people it must be a sad thing because it was a Gothic Cathedral build in 1163 that a lot of religious and anyone else would go to.
– Charly Pelaez

The building was really important for lovers of history, architecture, and art. So it is a very sad and tragic, because many people admired it and liked visiting it.
– Jocelyn Ramirez
The Notre Dame Cathedral, is a very important piece of art. I honestly want to visit the Cathedral so when I found out that it was on fire it, I was sad about it.
– Diana Rivera-Cala

The burning of Notre Dame was an unfortunate event that happened on Monday. I was brought up in a catholic school and went to church for that school on a regular basis, I was always amazed looking at the art work and the color stained glass. I would do the same if i was in Notre Dame.
– Alyssa Perez

What I think about the burning of Notre Dame which means “Our Lady” and refers to the Blessed Virgin Mary, is that its a great loss for humankind. This building held a lot of valuable art that was fortunately saved. It was also an important loss for human kind considering it was built at least 800 years ago, it showed us that you don’t need a lot of modern technology to build a great structure, just some wood and stone.
– Eduardo Ramirez

I personally think the burning of Notre Dame was a tragedy because this was a historic landmark being destroyed. This is like if someone took a wrecking ball and destroyed the Pyramids of Giza. It’s a great loss for the entire world just because this landmark has been up for a century.
– Erik Torres

I think what happened to the Notre Dame is terrible because they lost important stuff and it could of ended worse no one got injured we can look at it like that I guess but they are going to fix it but they can’t get back what they lost but at least they are well.
– Brenda Villares Tellez

I think that Fire has held a certain mystical power in the human mind since Prometheus stole it from the gods. (Learned this in English) For the world it means that When it burns down the spire of Notre Dame—one of Christendom’s great churches, resting at the heart of the French nation—the emotional effect can be tremendous.
– Luisa Fernandez

I think the burning of Notre Dame is awful and a great loss for Paris. Personally, to me Notre Dame was a popular tourist site to pay their respects and a terrible loss to the community. For the world it is a terrible loss where the cathedral was burning and there was no turning back and they couldn’t help and stop it.
– Irais Rojas-Ahuatl

I think the burning of Notre Dame is a tragic event that will go down in France’s history forever. To me, I believe the burning could have been planned and the France government are covering it up to prevent more riots. To the world, this is a tragic loss of human history that has been a part of generations after generations and will be sorely missed.
– Stephen Mejia

I think the burning of Notre Dame is really sad, and very unnecessary. As a believer, this makes me angry and worried. This shows us that in this world there are crazy people, even if this was just an accident, and we should always be careful.
– Nelcy Reyes