That was the hull canvas , gas bags and engine fuel burning.I seem to remember the Hindenburg giving off a hell of a lot of smoke
Hydrogen burns with a fairly dim blue light, very hard to see in daylight. When you go looking for a hydrogen leak, you take a straw broom, and stick it over flanges , valves, fittings, etc. If the broom catches on fire, you have a leak.
When high pressure hydrogen leaks, it auto ignites, because hydrogen gas is one of the few gases* that heats up on expansion. Almost all other gases chill.
*The joule thompson inversion temperature for hydrogen, helium and neon are around room temperature or below. Other gases will also heat up when expanding, but at much higher initial temperatures.
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