Leonia NJ students 'rattled' by fire at Notre Dame moments after they left cathedral

Students from Leonia High School in New Jersey are "rattled" after their visit to the historic Notre Dame Cathedral just minutes before a massive fire broke out, destroying large parts of the structure but leaving its iconic towers intact.

They were among the last people to see the 800-year-old Gothic structure before it was ravaged by flames.

Superintendent Edward Bertolini said the 26 students and five teachers, who are in Paris as part of an 11-day French immersion trip, had spent about an hour in the cathedral before leaving to go to dinner.

"We were there until about 6:20, and I guess the fire started around then," Bertolini said by phone from Paris early Tuesday morning. "We walked a few blocks to get dinner, and we were meeting one of the teachers' sisters at the restaurant. She was late and said it was because of a fire. We thought it was just a regular fire, not this."

After dinner, Bertolini said, the group saw the blaze from a nearby bridge.

"The city was just in a state of shock. It was on everyone's faces," he said. "We saw it once. We didn't want the kids to see it again."

Bertolini said the chaperones all talked to the students about the fire and that the group took comfort in the fact that early reports said no one was killed in the blaze.

"That made the kids feel better," he said. "Buildings can be rebuilt, but you can't replace a life."

He also said that during their time inside the church, one of the teachers "smelled something that might have been smoke" but didn't think anything of it.

Bertolini called the fire a "difficult moment" and said the whole experience was "bizarre" because the group was at dinner and heard from people in New Jersey about the fire.

"I had just been texting people pictures of the stained-glass windows. They were so gorgeous," he said. "Then I started getting texts from people asking about the fire. That's how we found out."

Board of Education President Bryce Robins spoke with Bertolini while the group was at dinner near the cathedral and then spread the word that all students were safe and accounted for. 

The trip is run by the high school's French teacher and is an opportunity for students to immerse themselves in the language, culture and history of France. They have already been to Normandy and Versailles. Stops are scheduled for Nice and Monaco before the group travels home this weekend.

More:Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris is not just a building, it's part of humanity

Watch:Notre Dame cathedral's spire collapses during fire

The fire raged for several hours as shocked crowds gathered on streets, bridges and squares to watch one of the globe's most iconic buildings burn. 

The cathedral's spire was engulfed in flames before tumbling over. Video footage from the scene showed fire and smoke spewing from the landmark, one of the world's most popular tourist destinations and home to priceless works of art. The flames appeared to be shooting out of the roof behind the nave of the cathedral.

Salvage efforts were underway to recover precious artifacts, and city prosecutors announced they were opening an investigation into the fire, which preliminary accounts said appeared to be accidental. 

"A special mission has been launched to try to save all works of art that can be saved," Emmanuel Grégoire, first deputy to the mayor of Paris, said on French TV.

A spokesman for Notre Dame, Andre Finot, told the Le Figaro newspaper that the "treasure" of the cathedral has not been touched so far. "We must see if the vault, which protects the cathedral, will be touched," he said. "The sacred objects are preserved in the sacristy; normally there is no risk of things being burned."

There was no immediate word on injuries.

This article contains material from Rebecca Rosman, Brian Hester and John Bacon.