Lightning strike turns 100-foot dinosaur into raging fireball, stunning onlookers

A massive animatronic dinosaur caught fire at aKansas theme parkafter being struck by lightning over the weekend.

Fire crews in Derby, Kansas, responded around 8:30 p.m.Saturday to reports of a lightning strike and a dinosaur on fire at the park, named Field Station: Dinosaurs, according to a Facebook post from the Derby Fire Department.

When crews arrived, they found flames coming from aSauroposeidon replica, a 100-foot-long animatronic that weighs nearly 60 tons and is one of the park’s largest attractions.

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“People on the ground actually saw the lightning bolt,” Gazelle said.

Lightning struck and ignited a giant animatronic dinosaur at a Kansas theme park.(Derby Fire Department (John Hooper Jr.)/Facebook)

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Crews from nearby agencies assisted inputting out the fire, which was ultimately extinguished without further damage to the park.

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Nearby crews helped put out the fire, which was extinguished without further damage to the park.(Derby Fire Department (John Hooper Jr.)/Facebook)

The destroyed animatronic cannot be salvaged.It was reduced to its steel frame after the fire burned away its outer layers and internal mechanisms.

a recent windstormand had just been repaired.

“We just fixed it, and we were waiting to paint it, and then it got struck by lightning,” he said.

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Despite the damage,the park reopenedthe following day.It still has dozens of other dinosaurs on display, it said.

The park was closed at the time and no injuries were reported.(Derby Fire Department (John Hooper Jr.)/Facebook)

For now, the park plans to turn the remains into an educational display, allowing visitors to see how the animatronic was built.

“We’ll have a frame there that people can look at, which is something most people never get to see,” Gazelle said.

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Field Station: Dinosaurs is a 10-acreoutdoor attractionfeaturing more than 40 life-sized animatronic dinosaurs, along with walking trails, live shows and interactive exhibits.

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Gazelle said the park was fortunate the fire did not spread.

“The dinosaurs are not particularly close to each other, so it didn’t spread,” he said.“We were very lucky.”