KANSAS CITY, Kan. --
Firefighters said they believe they have contained a massive fire at a fuel storage tank in downtown Kansas City, Kan.
KCK Fire Chief Thomas DeKeyser said the department plans to let the fire burn itself out.
Investigators said a lightning strike started a fire in a large fuel tank at the Magellan Pipeline terminal, located at 401 E. Donovan Road, which is near the GM-Fairfax plant.
The terminal handles jet fuel, ethanol, diesel and other fuel oils. Magellan's Bruce Heine said there were about 58,000 barrels of unleaded gasoline in the storage tank.
The tank exploded shortly before 7:30 p.m., and crews scrambled to prevent other fuel tanks from catching fire.
No injuries were reported.
Several witnesses called KMBC saying they heard a loud boom and that black smoke was filling the air.
At about 8:30 p.m., the fire breached the tank and spread to a dirt levee surrounding the tank that was built to contain fuel in the event of a leak.
At about 9:30 p.m., a section of the tank collapsed in the fire.
About 20 minutes later, another section of the tank collapsed, falling in on itself. Firefighters said that's a good sign that the fire is being contained within the structure of the tank.
An off-duty firefighter at the scene estimated it could take two days for the fire to burn out.
The heavy smoke caused visibility problems at the downtown Kansas City airport. Late Tuesday night, the Federal Aviation Administration closed the airport for the overnight hours. The FAA said it will reevaluate the visibility situation in the morning.
Environmental officials are checking air quality in the area.
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