Drone Footage Shows Montana Fuel Site Explosion

If you ever worked in the Bakken, you know how things can go from peace to pandemonium in a flash. Last week in Sidney, Montana, things just flat-out blew up.

Aaron Rigsby, a storm chaser, was passing through town on his way to Canada on the evening of June 25th when he saw a fire roaring at what appears to be a fuel depot or propane site. No fire crews had arrived on the scene yet, so like any storm nerd with the right gear, he sent his drone to get a better look.

That’s when “Whoa” became “Run.”

Halfway through filming, one of the tanks exploded with such force that it sent a shockwave toward Rigsby’s vehicle. And it launched his drone right out of the sky. The video is wild. You watch the fireball lift a tank off the ground like it’s been fired out of a cannon.

Emergency response did arrive shortly after, but by then, the only option was to let it burn itself out while keeping smaller fires from spreading. The blaze raged deep into the night.

And the drone? It took Aaron days to find it again.

For those of us in Montana who know guys putting in long shifts in the Bakken, sleeping in trailers, and FaceTiming kids during hour-long breaks in 12-hour shifts, this sort of scene hits a little differently. You never want that to happen, but you’ve got to respect the people who go into fire zones like that for a living.