A 100-foot animatronic dinosaur in Kansas went up in flames after a lightning strike turned it into a towering fireball, leaving firefighters with the most unusual call of their careers. The blaze erupted at Field Station: Dinosaurs, a theme park in Derby, when a bolt of lightning hit the Sauroposeidon replica around 8.30 p.m. on April 23, 2026. Fire crews arrived to find the structure engulfed in flames, its outer layers and internal mechanisms completely destroyed.
According to the NY Post, the Sauroposeidon, one of the park’s largest attractions, stretches 100 feet long and weighs nearly 60 tons. Guy Gazelle, executive producer at Field Station: Dinosaurs, said that witnesses saw the lightning strike firsthand. Despite the dramatic scene, the park was closed at the time, and no injuries were reported. Crews from nearby fire departments helped extinguish the fire before it could spread to other dinosaurs.
