Bencin Trucking Inc.'s facility in Walton Hills, OH, southeast of Cleveland, was destroyed Nov. 15, local media reports said, after a fire started in Ohio Briquetting Co., which occupies part of the same building.

Things got hot about 9 a.m. Friday, truckdriver Ron Clarin told WKYC television, when he was at the Bencin facility repairing a truck. Three workers from the briquette company ran by without saying a word; a moment later, all hell broke loose.

"The next thing you know, there was an explosion, and there were flames and smoke above my head," the driver, who escaped with minor face burns, said.

Reports said as many as eight explosions occurred during the fire. The blasts rattled homes up to two blocks away and could be seen from nearby towns. Heavy smoke and flames rose 100 feet into the sky from the truck company's roof, and officials cleared the area, forcing a nearby Fuel Mart to shut down its pumps and evacuate, and closing down Northfield Road between Forbes and Alexander roads.

Kara Allison, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, told The Associated Press some of the explosions were caused as water from firefighters' equipment hit magnesium being recycled at the briquetting facility.

The blaze was under control within two hours, and all the workers at the two companies escaped. Walton Hills Mayor Marlene Anielski told The AP that firefighters from 11 communities responded.

Bencin Trucking owns 55 to 60 vehicles. Officials at the company's Walton Hills office were trying to get their trucks back on the road and were not available for comment.