Overview
- The park’s record-long Sauroposeidon, which was struck by lightning Saturday night, burst into heavy fire at Field Station: Dinosaurs in Derby, Kansas.
- Firefighters from Derby, with automatic aid from Sedgwick County Fire District 1 and the Mulvane Fire Department, contained the blaze and kept it from other exhibits.
- No injuries were reported, the park had been closed at the time, and it reopened Sunday for visitors to see the remaining dinosaurs.
- The 100-foot, nearly 60-ton model burned to its steel frame and cannot be salvaged, and leaders say a full replacement would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
- Staff said the model had just been repaired after wind damage and may now serve as a teaching display that shows how the animatronic was built.