A spark from a welding iron ignited a fire Thursday that caused the extinction of a 90-foot-long robotic dinosaur that was set to be part of an exhibit at a New Jersey theme park.
The animatronic Argentinosaurus was reduced to a charred skeleton at Overpeck County Park in Leonia, police said.
The exhibit, called "Field Station: Dinosaurs," is moving to the park this month after operating in Secaucus since 2012.
Exhibit creator Guy Gsell told The Record newspaper that a welder was putting finishing touches on the Argentinosaurus when a spark started the blaze.
The dinosaur was roasted to its skeleton. None of the exhibit's 33 other dinosaurs was damaged. Leonia police tweeted a picture of two of the surviving dinosaurs, saying "they refused to give a witness statement."
The exhibit is still on track to open Memorial Day weekend, Gsell told The Record, and he plans to rebuild the Argentinosaurus robot.
Argentinosaurus fossils were discovered in Argentina in the 1980s.
