One hundred years after lightning touched off one of the worst man-made explosions in United States history in Rockaway Township, a free program will revisit the disaster on Wednesday, July 15, 2026 at the Morris County Library.
Remembering Picatinny Arsenal’s 1926 Explosion runs from 6 to 7 p.m. at the library at 30 East Hanover Avenue in Whippany. The Morris County Historical Society is presenting the talk with the Morris County Heritage Commission as part of its county history lecture series. Admission is free, but space is limited and pre-registration is required.
Two Picatinny Arsenal experts will lead the program. Jason Huggan, chief of the arsenal’s Environmental Affairs Division, and Jeff Ranu of its Mortars Division will walk through the lead-up to the explosion, recently discovered footage of the destruction, and the sweeping safety changes that followed.
On the evening of July 10, 1926, lightning from a thunderstorm struck a storehouse of surplus World War I explosives at the Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition Depot, next to Picatinny Arsenal in Rockaway Township. The fires and blasts that followed destroyed much of the depot, damaged buildings across the surrounding area and led to lasting reforms in how the military stores explosives.
For Rockaway readers, the story is local history. Picatinny Arsenal sits in Rockaway Township, and the talk comes just days after the disaster’s 100th anniversary on July 10, 2026.
