A roughly 100-foot, nearly 60-ton dinosaur is reduced to its bare skeletal frame after a lightning strike ignited the structure in flames at Field Station: Dinosaurs in Derby, Kansas, Saturday night. Crews were able to extinguish the fire before it spread, “sparing an extinction-level event.”
DERBY, Kan. — On the evening of Saturday, April 25, a massive animatronic Sauroposeidon dinosaur at Field Station: Dinosaurs — a park featuring over 40 prehistoric, realistic, life-sized dinosaurs — was struck by a powerful bolt of lightning amid severe storms, engulfing the structure in flames.
The fire reduced the roughly 100-foot, nearly 60-ton dinosaur to its bare skeletal frame, and according to officials, it was the park’s largest herbivore from the early Cretaceous period.
As severe storms tore through Kansas Saturday night, a powerful lightning strike ignited a massive animatronic Sauroposeidon at Field Station: Dinosaurs, engulfing the structure in flames.
(John Hooper Jr.)
Recently, much of the Central U.S., including the South, has been dealing with a multi-day severe weather event that has brought everything from damaging winds to large hail and numerous tornadoes.
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Just last Thursday, Kansas saw four confirmed tornadoes. Meanwhile, a violent EF-4 tornado tore through Enid, Oklahoma, causing catastrophic damage. And that was only the start of the multi-day event.
Along with the storms came flash flooding that triggered water rescues, while intense winds downed power lines across parts of the Midwest and South.
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Communities across the region are still reeling from the widespread damage, even as the threat of additional severe weather continues to loom.
The fire reduced the roughly 100-foot, nearly 60-ton dinosaur to its bare skeletal frame.
(John Hooper Jr.)
Around 8:30 Saturday night, Derby Fire crews were dispatched following multiple reports of a lightning strike and a dinosaur on fire at the theme park.
Firefighters arrived to find the three-story Sauroposeidon up in flames.
Fortunately, crews were able to prevent the fire from spreading to other dinosaurs and the 39 remaining are all intact.
A roughly 100-foot-long, nearly 60-ton dinosaur animatronic was struck by lightning and set ablaze Saturday night as severe storms moved through Derby, Kansas. The powerful strike ignited the massive structure, prompting a swift response from fire crews, who were able to extinguish the flames before they spread to other parts of the park or nearby structures.
The Derby Fire Department joked that they ‘spared an extinction level event.’
According to officials, the fire was extinguished with automatic aid from Sedgwick County Fire District 1 and Mulvane Fire Department.
Fire crews work to extinguish a blaze caused by a lightning strike that sent a dinosaur up in flames at Field Station: Dinosaurs in Kansas, April 25.
(John Hooper Jr.)
Following the fire, Field Station: Dinosaurs opened Sunday as scheduled. The park shared the news on their Facebook page, writing: “The Field Station will be open from Noon–5pm as we pay our last respects to Sauroposeidon (2018–2026), the longest animatronic dinosaur ever built, destroyed last night by a bolt of lightning.”
