A Drone’s Fiery Encounter in Sidney, MT

While passing through Sidney, Montana on the evening of June 25th, a storm chaser, Aaron Rigsby, en route to Canada found something a bit more explosive than a thunderhead—literally. A massive fire was raging with no emergency crews in sight, which prompted a quick 911 call and the launch of a drone to get a better view. As the drone hovered at a safe distance, zoomed in on the chaos below, a propane or oil tank suddenly exploded, setting off a dramatic chain reaction that hurled one tank hundreds of feet into the air before it slammed back down like a flaming meteor. The shockwave rocked the surrounding area, even rattling the storm chaser’s vehicle. Fire crews eventually arrived, but with the inferno too intense to fully extinguish, the strategy was to contain the spot fires and let the blaze burn itself out. It’s moments like these that prove you never really know what your drone will capture—and while the footage was unexpected and crazy, we certainly hope no one was hurt in the blast!