Parisians commented on the fire that engulfed the world-renowned Notre Dame Cathedral in the city on Monday, as firefighters continued to battle the blaze into the night.

"I feel an inconceivable sadness, it's really a national disaster, I cannot say what I feel so it's sad," said Genevieve.

"To see the cathedral collapse like that it is an emotion of sadness, it is a rather negative emotion," said Adama, another Parisian.

Another local, Marianne, seemed to echo the remarks made by US President Donald Trump on Twitter, that using fire-fighting aircraft could be a potential solution to extinguish the fire quickly.

"My feeling is that we could have put out the fire faster if we had used planes [canadair] I often live in the South and I know that we do not let things get degraded like that," She said.

The spire and part of the roof collapsed earlier in the evening, after the fire rapidly spread though the cathedral.

The cause of the blaze is not yet known.