CBS7 EXCLUSIVE: Witnesses recount gas plant explosion in Pecos Co. (UPDATED WITH VIDEO)

(UPDATED AT 10:30 P.M.)

When Tony Mandujano was driving in Coyanosa Friday morning, he didn’t expect to see a fire right across from his family’s business.

"As I was coming back, I could see the fire. I thought, man, it moved all the way to the store, that’s how big it was,” he said.

Some family members and other community members were inside the store when the flames licked the sky at around 10 a.m.

Tony Mandujano’s brother, Mando Mandujano, watched the explosions happen.

“Those flames were humongous. I mean, it was, it was roaring, it was loud. You could really barely talk to each other out here it was so loud,” he said.

The noise wasn’t just coming from the fire. There was an explosion of a 24-inch pipe at the Waha Gas Plant owned by Energy Transfer.

The explosion put two people in the hospital, and wasn’t just seen in the sky.

A woman working at the market, Aishia Lindsey, said she also experienced the explosion.

“I heard a boom and then the window shook and then there was another one and then it shook again but I thought they were sand blasting. It looked like Armageddon. It was just a big ball of flame,” she said.

The plant backs up to the Mandujano land around a mile and a half away from the store. And they said the explosion left even more senses tingling.

“There was dirt. It was literally filling up the windshields on the cars it was really that thick. You couldn’t see it up in the air but it was very obvious you could catch it feel it. There was a smell and I wouldn’t know how to describe it. It wasn’t a gassy smell, it was more like a dirt smell,” Mondo Mandujano said.

The Mandujano families and workers at their store voluntarily left the area, fearing the fire would sweep toward their homes and business.

Meanwhile, emergency personnel from multiple cities responded to the explosion.

“I got to the kids and they were crying, the house shook and the house moved. And it’s just nerve wracking,” he said.

News that the explosion was isolated and contained was released several hours later by Energy Transfer.

Officials say they are going to follow standard operating procedure, and leave the fire burning until it burns out.

The gas plant company said it will release more information as it becomes available.

(UPDATED AT 1:00 P.M.)

PECOS COUNTY, TX (CBS7) -- There has been a plant explosion in Coyanosa. It happened around 10:00 a.m. we understand.

Reports are that two contract workers were hurt. One was airlifted to Lubbock. The other was taken to the Ward Co. Hospital in a private vehicle. No word yet on how badly they were hurt.

Jessie Dominguez, Emergency Manager and Coordinator for Pecos County, says a 24-inch pipe exploded just outside the Waha Gas Plant there.

He says they're allowing itself to burn out.

The Imperial Fire Department, Fort Stockton Fire Department and Pecos County EMS responded to the scene.

We have crews headed that way and will keep you updated here online, on-air and on social media.

A statement from Energy Transfer:

“The area has been isolated and contained so the fire can safely burn itself out which is standard operating procedure. We will provide updates as information becomes available.”

Vicki Granado

Energy Transfer - VP Corporate Communications,