AKRON, Ohio – Fire broke out Thursday at an enormous former blimp hangar that now houses military research on a prototype surveillance airship.
Flames tore through the outer layers of the structure, which stretches the length of almost four football fields at Akron Fulton Airport. The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear, fire department spokesman Ed Sturkey said.
The hangar was used to assemble blimps for the military during World War II. It is now home to Pentagon-sponsored Lockheed Martin Corp. research on a $149 million prototype of the unmanned airship.
The company is prepared to start building a prototype within a year, spokeswoman Kate Dunlap said. The prototype will be 400 feet long and 140 feet in diameter. It is intended to stay aloft at an altitude of nearly 12 miles for months in one position.
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