A fire at the Port of Brownsville forced more than 100 people to evacuate.
Port officials say a valve leaked on animal fat oils and ignited two tanks at the RTW fuel terminal.
We spoke to port workers who say they dashed out fearing for their safety after black clouds of smoke engulfed the area.
Leroy Gonzalez was just one of the hundreds of port employees that was caught up in the commotion Monday Morning.
He was just yards away from the fire that started a RTW fuel terminal.
“We just saw a little bit of smoke coming out then all of a sudden we just see the flames that started going up maybe 10, 15, 20 feet.
That's basically what we saw then we just decided that we had to get out of the facility," Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez evacuated but not before taking this picture that shows just how bad the smoke got.
Brownsville Police Chief Lenny Perez says seven rescue vehicles were called out to the scene.
"It was a fatty oil acid fire,” Perez said. “It was knocked down by the Brownsville Fire Department using a foam and water type combination, but we fought it for almost an hour before we were able to control everything."
No one was injured but port officials were forced to seize operations.
"There was a one-mile safety-zone that was issued by the captain of the port that is that there is to be no vessels coming in and out of the port until he deemed everything ok," said Manuel Ortiz, port of Brownsville spokesperson.
Gonzalez says despite the blaze, he feels safe going back to work.
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