'OH THE HUMANITY!': Decades before the Hindenburg disaster, Calgary had brush with dirigible disaster

CALGARY — On a windy July day in Calgary, over 100,000 people flocked to Victoria Park, also now known as the Stampede grounds, unknowing they'd be a part of dirigible history.The day itself, July 5, 1908, was one of several days of an event called the Dominion Exhibition, which was an annual agricultural exposition funded and selected by the feds, and held for the first time in Calgary that year.According to a report by CBC News, about 100,000 people attended the exhibition — a large feat compared to the city's population, which in 1908 was approximately 25,000.One of the attractions at the exhibition was daily flights by Strobel's Airship, with onlookers watching with glee — until the fateful day of July 5..The Strobel Airship, was a type of dirigible balloon, shaped like a cigar, built with a metal frame and covered in fabric.It floated thanks to the hydrogen gas it carried, the gas being lighter than the surrounding air, as well as having a small motor with a propeller meant steer and push it forward.At the helm of the airship was Captain Jack Dallas, "a local aviation pioneer," as Jack Peach, Calgary Historian, wrote in a column for the Calgary Herald.The Strobel was owned by American aeronaut Charles J. Strobel. The airship flew through Calgary's skies at the exhibition — and for four days, it was successful — until the fifth and final day, the balloon would see the light of day..According to the Southern Alberta Pioneers and their Descendants (SAPD) Association, Captain Dallas and his assistant, Bert Hall, were fighting aggressive winds inside the tent that housed the Strobel, winds Calgarians would be familiar with — more than 100 years in the future.Hall and Dallas' fight was in vain, however, because the canvas of the tent kept blowing against the poles, threatening to snap them.The pair were attempting to keep the tent centred, knowing that any pressure placed on the ship would cause it to explode.One sharp gust of wind was all it took, as the canvas of the tent was struck, bringing along with it a muffled explosion, and a burst of flames..There are no accounts of any casualties from the accident, but Dallas emerged with severe burns caused by his proximity to the explosion, while Hall was burned enough to earn a trip to the hospital. What remained in the aftermath was only a toolbox and a few small fittings, with a reportedly $5,000 loss, which, when adjusted for inflation, amounts to approximately $130,000 in damages. Despite the ordeal, according to a paper on the early days of the Calgary Stampede, all was not lost — and newspapers reported the exhibition as still a "great" and "splendid" success. The newspaper, the Albertan, did not even focus on the explosion, instead focusing on speeches made by numerous American dignitaries. .Even looking back today, the exhibition was portrayed as an overwhelming success, but in terms of air technology, it was a stark warning for the handling of airships.In fact, a replacement ship was debated over to star in another exhibition.The story may be reminiscent to some readers — of the infamous Hindenburg disaster."Oh the humanity!" cried American reporter Herbert Morrison on site during the disaster 29 years after Calgary's own airship explosion.On May 6, 1937, a German dirigible had been attempting to land in Lakehurst, New Jersey, but instead burst into flames, causing 35 of the 97 people onboard to die. .The crash was claimed to be caused by a discharge of atmospheric electricity from a hydrogen gas air leak on the airship — since hydrogen gas is highly flammable. Highly flammable indeed, as Calgary's dirigible incident almost three decades earlier had warned.

'OH THE HUMANITY!': Decades before the Hindenburg disaster, Calgary had brush with dirigible disaster

Related Stories