A chemical plant fire consumed an Oklahoma facility Thursday, leading to several explosions after pressurized containers were heated, NBC News reported Sept. 19.

A fire consumed an Oklahoma chemical plant and caused several explosions near a western Oklahoma town, after pressurized containers were heated by the blaze.

Chief of the Thomas Police Department Buck Jones said about 12 people living nearby the chemical plant were evacuated, adding that no one was injured in the incident.

Yahoo! News reported that the chemical plant fire began about 10:00 p.m. CDT Wednesday at a Danlin industries facility just outside Thomas, Oklahoma, 90 miles northwest of Oklahoma City.

Director of Emergency Management for Custer County Michael Galloway said the flame began about 3 hours after the last employee of the facility has exited the building.

KWTV of Oklahoma City reported that witnesses had said they saw flames and smoke shoot into the air during the explosions.

Contrary to initial statements by the Thomas Fire Department, Galloway said authorities now believe that the explosions were a product of the chemical plant fire and not the other way around.

"The complex consists of a warehouse, a lab and an office, and the fire is what caused the explosions because pressurized containers within the facility were heated up," Galloway said.

Galloway added that the fire largely burned itself out, sparing only small areas, at around 8 a.m. Thursday.

According to several reports, the chemical plant fire was very hot that firefighters and responders simply kept their distance and waited as the facility burned out on its own.

"It will be a few hours yet before it all cools down and we can do a walk-through," Galloway said, adding that the facility merely contained nontoxic but highly flammable chemicals including Methanol. "Methanol burns like alcohol so once it's in flame it burns right off," he noted.

The chemical plant that focuses on oil and gas production was said to be a 13-acre facility with 75 employees in Thomas, and a 1,100 population around the world.

Authorities are now trying to identify the root cause of the chemical plant fire.

The incident is just one of the recent fires at U.S. chemical facilities recently. In April, a West, Texas fertilizer plant exploded leaving 14 people dead and about 200 injured. Meanwhile, a Louisiana chemical plant explosion in June killed one person and injured 73.