ANTRIM, Ohio — An explosion and fire at a well pad in Guernsey County on Thursday resulted in a half-mile evacuation but no extensive damage and no injuries reported, according to a local fire official.

The Guernsey County Emergency Management Agency reported Thursday evening that due to a well pad fire and increased risk to the local surroundings, an evacuation recommendation was in place for Antrim and the surrounding area. The public was urged to avoid a half-mile radius from 19669 Cadiz Road. Guernsey County EMA lifted the evacuation order for the Antrim area about noon Friday.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources reported the incident occurred at the Gulfport Groh Pad constructed in 2012 and operated by Gulfport Appalachia LLC.

Donald Warnock, chief of the Antrim Volunteer Fire Department, said Friday that he was at the fire station about 1.5 miles from the well pad when the explosion occurred around 5:30 p.m. Thursday and that he could both hear it and feel it.

Upon arriving at the scene, Warnock said a tank was on fire and appeared to have suffered the explosion. The tank had been in operation but there was no one present at the site, he said. After determining there was no life safety issue, the responders chose to allow the fire to burn itself out which occurred about 12:15 p.m. Friday, he said.

The initial response involved about 30 firefighters from nearby departments and other officials overnight and Friday. Warnock said most were on standby but others were involved in stopping traffic on U.S. 22 where it runs past the site while the evacuation order was in effect.

As of Friday afternoon, investigation work and cleanup efforts were getting underway. The Ohio State Fire Marshal’s Office and the ODNR were participating in the investigation, Warnock said.

The cause was not yet known Friday afternoon, he said. The appropriate agencies planned to conduct air, soil and water testing as part of the investigation to determine if there was any environmental impact.

Warnock said no injuries were reported and property damage appeared to be light outside the immediate well pad area.

In a separate statement, the ODNR said the well pad will remain shut down and inactive. There are no reported injuries, no reported impacts to wildlife, and no reported impacts to waters of the state, the agency reported.

In a Facebook post Warnock posted on his Chief’s Corner page, the company said the automated safety controls at the wellsite were activated and secured the well and isolated the ignition to the surface area surrounding the storage tanks.

The ignition has been controlled and Gulfport officials were on site Friday afternoon working closely with local officials to secure the area and continue remediation efforts, the statement said.

“Gulfport’s priority is to protect the health and safety of the nearby residents and out of abundance of caution, those living within a defined radius were notified by local officials and requested to temporarily relocate while the remediation efforts were underway,” the statement said.