Weather balloon falls and lands in Amhertburg backyard

Tom Delmore and Lyle Dorie certainly had an eventful Wednesday morning.

Both Amherstburg men were in their kitchens, enjoying their morning routines, when they both spotted something in their respective backyards at about 9 a.m.

What they found was a weather balloon from the National Weather Service's  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

"I was in my kitchen and looked out the window and saw a big round ball," Delorme said. "I walked over and it was bouncing around. It had a reel on it that was bouncing around with a string attached."

Delorme described the ball as about three feet in diameter. He then picked the balloon up and put it in the garage so it would blow away. 

He then called neighbour Lyle Dorie and followed the string.

"Tom called and I noticed the string," Dorie said. "We identified it as a weather balloon. We followed the string to another neighbour's house and that's where the transponder was."

That's when the two neighbours saw where it was from, followed the instructions on it and called the fire department.

"This resident did a good job," Amherstburg fire and rescue Assistant Deputy Chief Dan Monk said. "He followed the instructions and he has a good story to tell."

Monk said the balloons can be filled with a flammable hydrogen gas or a helium, and admitted that they couldn't tell which one. 

"So we brought proper precautions. We brought it out of the subdivision, and our crew deflated the air out of the balloon and disposed of it," Monk said. "Typically these weather balloons burst out of the air. There are warnings right on it, that if it does come down partially, stay away from it and call the fire department."