T-Rex Puts On Spectacular but Unintended Show

Giant animatronic dinosaur goes up in flames at theme park in Colorado
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 23, 2018 7:00 AM CDT
This T-Rex Is Breathing Fire. Not on Purpose
A life-sized animatronic Tyrannosaurus Rex at the Royal Gorge Dinosaur Experience in Canon City, Colo., burst into flames Thursday.   (Royal Gorge Dinosaur Experience via AP)

The co-owner of a dinosaur-themed park in southern Colorado thinks an electrical malfunction caused a life-size animatronic Tyrannosaurus Rex to burst into flames. Zach Reynolds says the T-Rex at the Royal Gorge Dinosaur Experience in Canon City smoldered for about 10 minutes before it caught fire Thursday morning, per the AP. Visitors watched as the inferno spread through the dinosaur, which appeared at times to be breathing flames.

The 24-foot-tall T-Rex, which moved and made sounds, was one of 16 dinosaurs that line the park's Wild Walk exhibit. Reynolds says it was a total loss, but at least "it made for some spectacular imagery along the way." He hopes to have a replacement T-Rex installed by the summer.

(More Tyrannosaurus rex stories.)

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