MERIDIAN, Miss. - The fire from an oil storage tank explosion that injured one person and forced the evacuation of about 150 people near Pachuta was extinguished Saturday morning, a spokesman for the Clarke County Sheriff's Office said.

The tank exploded late Friday, sparking an intense fire that sent a plume of smoke hundreds of feet in the air.

A spokesman for the sheriff's office said the fire was put out about 6 a.m. Saturday and evacuees were allowed to go home.

Clarke County Sheriff Todd Kemp said residents were evacuated from the area south of Pachuta on County Road 280 at about 4:30 p.m. Fire and fumes made it difficult for emergency fire crews to fight the massive blaze.

Kemp said it wasn't clear what caused the explosion. He said a vacuum truck driver at the site suffered third degree burns and was transported to South Central Regional Medical Center in Laurel. On Saturday, the sheriff's office said there were no other injuries.

The explosion occurred at the West Nancy Oil Field just off U.S. Highway 11. Kemp said this was a storage facility owned by Denbury Resources Inc. of Laurel.

Residents who were evacuated out of the area were given hotel rooms in Quitman paid for by Denbury, he said.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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