Making Mealtime Meaningful: Discover how we're giving back with the 12T Cares program →

There is devastating breaking news coming from the city of Paris, France: the historic Notre Dame Cathedral is currently on fire.

Experts say Notre Dame has been “crumbling” as of late and there has been a lot of construction and financial efforts being put into restoring the structure to its previous state.

The iconic 900-year-old cathedral is considered the heart of Paris and is one of the most visited landmarks in the world.

According to its Wikipedia page, “The cathedral was begun in 1160 and largely completed by 1260, though it was modified frequently in the following centuries.

In the 1790s, Notre-Dame suffered desecration during the French Revolution when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. Soon after the publication of Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1831, popular interest in the building revived. A major restoration project supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc began in 1845 and continued for twenty-five years. Beginning in 1963, the facade of the Cathedral was cleaned of centuries of soot and grime, returning it to its original color. Another campaign of cleaning and restoration was carried out from 1991-2000.”

Now, news outlets and social media accounts are posting heartbreaking photos and live footage showing the wooden structure of the roof engulfed in flames, giant plumes of thick smoke, and the spire beginning to collapse.

In fact, it seems as though the spire has completely collapsed at this point.

Firefighters are working frantically to contain the flames and there is no official word on what has caused the fire.

We are keeping an eye on developments and will be sharing updates.

Subscribe to 12 Tomatoes