collapsing the roof and setting the wooden frame of the entire cathedral aflame. the alarm went off shortly before seven in the evening local time no saddam is burning spreading a brown black cloud across the sky her reasons and tourists looked on and heartbreak kept outside the security perimeter by authorities as ash fell in the vicinity. firefighters had a seemingly impossible task they had to work inside the building to save priceless artworks and outside to contain the blaze as it engulfed the roof now saddam is one of the world's most famous churches pulling cultural treasures from nearly a thousand years of french and catholic history. the inferno brought french president emanuel mouth crawl into the scene he had been scheduled to give an address to the nation. he