ST. CLOUD, Fla. -- A fire erupted Thursday afternoon at an Osceola County plant that contains thousands of gallons of methanol, sodium methane and biodiesel fuel, firefighters said.

The plant, which houses 3,000 gallons of methanol, 5,000 gallons of sodium methane, 55 gallons of sulfuric acid and 4,000 gallons of biodiesel fuel, is located off Dillon Blaine Way near Nova Road, east of St. Cloud.

A company by the name of New Eden Energy is located at 6555 Nova Road, although it has not been confirmed by officials if that's where the fire broke out.

An employee at the plant said she thinks the fire, which began around 1 p.m., may have been sparked by lightning during a brief storm.

Only one employee was in the building when the fire began. He said he was in his office when he noticed it started to get hot. When he looked out the window he saw the flames and then he felt the roof of his office blow off and he left the facility and called 911.

The Osceola County Fire Department said there were reports of explosions at the plant.

Firefighters and Orange County and St. Cloud hazmat teams are battling the blaze at the plant.

Video from Local 6 News helicopter Sky 6 showed large plumes of black smoke and extensive flames destroying structures at the plant.

There are several homes located near the plant, but fire officials said only one home was evacuated.

Residents at the nearby Eden Lakes neighborhood said explosions their homes were rocked by explosions.

"It kept going 'Boom. Boom. Boom,' " a resident said. "I thought somebody was on the roof of my house. I looked up and all you could see was nothing but black."

Resident Karen Hayhurst said she thought she was transported into the middle of a battlefield.

"It sounded like missiles," Hayhurst said. "Like rockets were coming down and exploding all over and then you would see a big plume of smoke come up."

The cause of the blaze is not known, but firefighters were able to contain the flames.

The National Biodiesel Board Web site states that biodiesel fuel is a domestic, renewable fuel for diesel engines derived from natural oils, such as soybean oil.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.