Fort Sill, Oklahoma, USA
(Library of Congress)
Oklahoma’s Fort Sill – the burial place of the Native American, Geronimo – housed static kite balloons, inflated with hydrogen such as this one. The balloons were deployed for the observation of artillery attacks, and were secured with guiding cables by groups of ground staff.
Six troops were killed in the accident, captured here on camera at Henry Post Field at the Fort. The hydrogen in a balloon was ignited by a what is believed to have been a static electricity charge, created as the folds of the balloon fabric were rubbed together. Thirty more troops were injured.
‘We just had a pretty bad accident. As they were bringing in the Observation Balloon about 5 p.m. the wind started to blow a pretty good gale and the men had a hard time handling it. It exploded. I saw one man’s shirt burn right off him. The photographer’s barracks was just 200 feet away and the hot gush was felt all through the barracks.’
Charles Moore, photographer at Fort Sill, in a letter to a friend, April 2, 1918
