The fire at Reliance Propane and Fuel Oil, 180 Lavoy Rd., near Telegraph Road was considered so dangerous that firefighters withdrew from the scene for about three hours late yesterday afternoon.

The worker, Robert Wilcox, Jr., suffered first, second, and third degree burns and drove himself to seek treatment without firefighters' knowledge. He drove to a medical office in Toledo, he said, and from there was taken to St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center where he remained last night.

The fire started where Mr. Wilcox was draining gas from propane tanks, the 27-year-old Toledo man said last night from the hospital.

He blamed the blaze on static electricity or a spark created by the screwdriver he was using to loosen a screw from a propane tank. Mr. Wilcox said he paints, fills, and washes propane tanks at the firm where he has been employed for almost 11 months.

"I'm in pain," he said late last night.

A second person, who was not identified but was believed to be a company manager, was given oxygen. Bedford Township Fire Capt. Kirk Keane said the person was treated and later returned to the scene.

Bedford firefighters, who were expected to remain at the propane plant into this morning to continue monitoring fire in the plant's production facility, said last night no cause had been determined. They estimated damage in the millions of dollars.

Officials said a pump house was ablaze when the first fire crews arrived. For hours afterward, dark black smoke could be seen for miles with orange flames burning below.

Dan Smelser, 54, of Toledo, a farm employee whose company, Morrin Farms, rents land around the propane business, was working in a field about 2:15 p.m. when he saw white smoke and then flames shooting up 8 to 10 feet.

He said Reliance workers began running from the property and jumped into cars. One of the workers picked him up in his vehicle.

"The place is going to blow up," he recalled one of those workers telling him as they left the scene.

Mr. Smelser later returned to retrieve a tractor. When he arrived, he found dozens of exploded propane-tank bits littering the farm field.

The blaze destroyed the pump house and spread to a production facility, where 20 and 100-pound propane tanks were located. Flames spread to a tractor-trailer rig containing at least 100 small tanks, then to a building housing a garage, office, and loading dock with more cylinders.

The biggest concerns were seven 20,000-gallon oil tanks and three 30,000-pound propane tanks in front of the pump house, said Thomas Jaksetic, Toledo acting battalion fire chief.

Those tanks and 500-pound tanks near the production facility did not explode. Explosions heard around the area were from 20-pound propane cylinders, such as those used for home grills, authorities said.

Nick Contreras of Toledo said he was evacuated after 4 p.m. from Three D Machining, 7020 South Telegraph, after hearing explosions all afternoon. At first, he thought something fell in the business where he was working. He likened the sound to a train coming through the area.

Within 30 minutes of the inferno, two nearby rail lines were shut down, the Federal Aviation Administration was notified to close air space, and Consumers Energy was asked to cut power to the facility.

Captain Keane said about the same time as the propane blaze, Bedford Township firefighters were busy with a barn on Samaria Road that was engulfed in flames, so Erie Township and then Toledo firefighters initially responded.

"Our biggest trouble was the water supply," Toledo Fire Battalion Chief Bill Sulewski said.

He attributed the delay to connection problems because Bedford Township and Toledo fire departments use different hose couplings. Once crews could start spraying water, aerial trucks couldn't reach the large oil and propane tanks to keep them cool.

"We did all we could to get as close as we could," Chief Sulewski said, adding that an automatic foam system at the facility may have helped knock the fire down. "If you go back in, you're just askin' for trouble."

Firefighters pulled out for safety reasons and hoped the blaze would burn itself out. They were aided by a southwest wind that fanned flames away from the large tanks.

A Reliance representative told authorities a 1 to 1 1/2-mile evacuation area would suffice if the propane tanks exploded, Chief Sulewski said. Businesses, some with more than 100 employees, and residents evacuated. They were asked to keep their doors and windows closed.

About 25 evacuated people arrived at Fire Station 27 in Erie Township, where they were greeted by firefighters and members of the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

Evacuee Kenneth Scroggs, 40, who lives with his brother in a mobile home park in Erie Township, had been through the drill of abruptly leaving his home before. He was forced to evacuate twice from homes in Louisiana because of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

Yesterday, he was faced with the possibility of losing a third home to disaster and could hardly believe he was in this predicament again.

"All I can do is hope and pray," Mr. Scroggs said. "I don't want to be homeless again."

When evacuees at the fire station were told they could go home, Mr. Scroggs headed straight for his vehicle.

"They said we could go, and I'm ready to get home," he said.

Shawn Ramirez, who has lived at Kurtwood Drive and Sterns Road for more than two years, did not evacuate because she was concerned about her goats and two horses. "My windows started shaking on my house. There were consecutive explosions over and over and over," Ms. Ramirez said.

The evacuation was lifted about 6:30 p.m., about the same time fire crews returned and poured water on the flames.

Harold Miller, Reliance president, headed up to the fire scene from the company's offices in Toledo when he learned the news.

"He's fine, but very concerned," said Holly Miller, his daughter and secretary.

She said the family last night did not know how the fire started. Reliance plans to be open for business today.

Written by The Blade