REFUGIO COUNTY, Texas – A Kinder-Morgan pipeline explosion lit up the sky and shook homes around the city Wednesday morning, officials said.
Refugio County Sheriff's Office confirmed the explosion happened 18 miles north Refugio and eight miles east of Highway 77 in a rural area.
Officers said the pipeline was possibly 36 inches in diameter and the reason for the explosion is unknown. The pipeline was located in Lake Pasture and flames shot over 200 feet in the air.
Heat from the flames could be felt up to a fourth of a mile from the fire. Kinder Morgan workers arrived and shutdown valves to extinguish the fire.
There were no injuries reported and no one was around the area at the time.
According to Seadrift Police Department a bright orange light was seen in the sky just after 12:15 a.m.
Andres Mungia, 28 lives outside Corpus Christi and was on his way to work in Louisiana when he saw a flash in the sky.
"I thought it was some sort of lightening or thunder," Mungia said.
Shortly after he said he saw "a big ole ball of fire was lighting up the sky, lighting up the darkness. It just started burning, going higher and higher. So I took out my phone."
VIDEO: Flames from pipeline fire
Mungia said he woke up his friend who was sleeping in the truck when the fire got out of hand.
"When the fire started going crazy, I go over to him. 'Hey, check this out.'" Mungia said. "I was just in shock. I've heard of things like that happening. We do work in the industrial field, but I've never been able to witness it. And so close like that. Bam!"