On Monday the world watched a live situation in Paris. The Notre Dame Cathedral was engulfed in flames. This beautiful building has been around for 800 years, and the fire struck a chord in all to see it in this condition. About 400 firefighters were sent out to the cathedral to try to put out the blaze, but there didn’t seem any way to stop it.

We asked firefighting students at Hays that are in the firefighting course about why the fire could not be promptly put out.

Declan Trevethan, 11, explained, “The structure could be too far gone, or it’s not worth risking a lot to save a little.”

News outlets mentioned traffic and crowds hampered firefighting equipment trying to get to the scene. Also, the structure’s age and design slowed efforts. And no one liked President Donald Trump’s suggestion of dumping water from overhead planes.

Early Tuesday Morning, after nine hours of battling the fire, the blaze was finally extinguished. The two iconic bell towers also known as “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” survived, however the central spire of the cathedral collapsed into the building. The majority of the 13th-century oak roof was also destroyed, and will be very difficult to replace.

Many people have already taken action to help out the remains of the Notre Dame Cathedral, such as the University of Notre Dame that is donating $100,000 towards the renovation of the building. Total donations for the reconstruction of Notre Dame top $700 million.

Officials are now saying the fire likely started from a short circuit.

The French President Emmanuel Macron, said he wants the cathedral to be rebuilt in five years. “We will rebuild Notre Dame even more beautiful and I want that to be done in the next five years” Macron told CNN.