A small town in Texas was put on edge Thursday after a fire erupted at a fertilizer storage facility, which reportedly stores ammonium nitrate -- the same fertilizer that ignited a deadly explosion in another Texas town last year, U.S. media reported.
The fire broke out Thursday afternoon at a fertilizer storage site in Athens, a town about 100 km southeast of Dallas with a population of 12,000 people, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Police cordoned off a five-block radius from the facility. The alarming fire put the town on edge as the site regularly stores ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer often used to increase crop yield but can also be used as a cheap alternative to dynamite. It was not known if there is fertilizer or how much fertilizer is stored at the site.
No explosions happened and no injuries have been reported. By Thursday night the fire appeared to have burned itself out, the report said.
Aerial footage showed that huge columns of flames had reduced the wood-framed structure to little more than a smoking ruin framed by charred walls.
Officials said the town is waiting on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to arrive and evaluate the air before people are allowed back in their homes. An investigation is underway to determine what caused the fire.
The fire is reminiscent of a fertilizer plant blast that killed 15 people, injured more than 200 others and decimated the central Texas town of West in April 2013.
In that disaster, an initial fire ignited scores of tons of ammonium nitrate, virtually leveling everything nearby. More than a year after the explosion, it's as yet unknown what caused the initial fire. No one has been charged in connection with the accident.