I think Notre Dame has been covered in scaffolding for decades now. The front was being redone when I was there in '94.
If I were a conspiracy theorist, I'd say they've been preparing for this for a long, long time. The building is on a damned island in the middle of a river. And somehow they couldn't get water to put out a fire.
As an historian, I want to be sick that they'd sacrifice the cathedral for their fucking sick rituals or whatever.