An evacuation order has been issued after a pipeline in a Texas city burst into flames.
The fire started just before 10am in La Porte, which is located around 25 miles southwest of Houst on.
The company that owns the pipe, Energy Transfer, has since confirmed it is a natural gas line which they have now isolated so it can burn itself out.
According to the company they had been made aware that an unknown vehicle had struck a valve at the pipe, which they believe may have caused the fire.
Dramatic images captured at the scene show an extremely large jet of fire burning high in the sky, blanketing the area in thick black smoke.
Other images captured at the scene show the damage caused to the nearby area, with one picture showing a burnt out car.
The company said in a statement: ‘We experienced an incident this morning in La Porte, Texas, at a valve station along Spencer Highway for a 20″ natural gas liquids line that resulted in a fire.
‘There are no reports of injuries at this time. The LaPorte Fire Department is on the scene and has evacuated all homes and businesses within a half mile of the incident site.
‘The line has been isolated so that the residual product in the line can safely burn itself out.
‘We have no timeline at this point on how long that process will take, but we are working closely with local authorities.
‘We are aware of early reports indicating that an unknown passenger car entered our right-of-way and struck the value location.
‘Air monitoring equipment is in the process of being set up in the area. We will continue to release details as they become available.’
Due to the fire, nearby Spencer Highway has been closed in both directions and neighboring roads have blocked off to traffic.
Evacuations have also been ordered for the Brookglen neighborhood area, with San Jacinto College issuing a shelter-in-place order.
In a post to social media, the college said: ‘SJC Central remains under shelter in place. No fire on campus.
‘Emergency responders are on site. A shelter in place will remain for the San Jacinto College Central Campus until all clear is provided.’
Geselle Melina Guerra, 25, lives within the evacuation area along with her boyfriend and said they had been having breakfast when the pipe exploded.
She said: ‘All of a sudden we hear this loud bang and then I see something bright, like orange, coming from our back door that’s outside.
‘I was just freaking out, pacing around the living room, not really knowing what to do or what was happening. I thought maybe it was an airplane that had crashed down by our house.’
According to the energy companies outage tracker, there are currently over 5,000 customers without power.
Multiple agencies are already on the scene to battle the blaze with teams working at it from two angles.
The Deer Park Office of Emergency Management said: ‘Unified Command is established with Deer Park handling the west side and La Porte handling the east.
‘A mobile command post is set up at East Blvd. and Spencer Hwy. HC Pollution Control is on scene.’