HOUSTON, Aug. 14 (UPI) — Two explosions set fire to a couple oil industry warehouses near Houston on Friday afternoon, in a scene mildly resembling the deadly blasts that rocked China earlier this week.
According to authorities, the explosions occurred at warehouses in Conroe, about 40 miles north of Houston, at about 4:30 p.m. local time Friday. No injuries were reported.
Thick, black smoke billowed from the warehouses and it took firefighters about two hours to extinguish the flames, news media reported.
It was not immediately clear if anyone was inside either warehouse when the explosions happened — but officials don’t believe there was. The cause of the blasts remains under investigation.
“I’ve never seen that much smoke in my life,” witness Neerha Bhir, who works at a nearby gas station, said. “Hopefully, it’s under control.”
The Houston Chronicle cited one official as saying everyone who was employed at the warehouse complex had already left for the day when the blasts went off.
Fire crews advised all residents within a two-mile radius of the scene stay inside their homes as a precaution. However, it is not believed the explosions created an air hazard.
Friday’s sequence of events sound similar to two major explosions that occurred in Tianjin, China, this week, killing dozens and wounding more than 700 people.
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