HOUSTON -- Residents and drivers watched smoke fill the air after an electrical transformer caught fire on Sunday, KPRC Local 2 reported.

The transformer, located at a CenterPoint Energy site near Westpark Drive and Newcastle Drive went up in flames just after 7:30 a.m.

The billowing black smoke caught Mike Barns' attention as he exited the 610 loop to do some shopping.

"It's quite a sight on the freeway," he said. "A couple hundred feet in the air -- a big black plume of smoke."

Some neighbors found themselves unable to get in or out of their homes because police blocked off the area.

Jeff Burwinkel and his son, Collin, saw the flames on television and decided to jump in their car to get a closer look.

"It is pretty amazing," Burwinkel said. "It's amazing the whole place hasn't gone up. They must do a pretty good job keeping everything breakered off."

"I don't get to see a big fire every Sunday morning," Collin said.

CenterPoint Energy officials said the fire was contained to the immediate area surrounding the large transformer.

"Once it started to fault, it creates a lot of heat and there's a lot of oil inside that unit and oil is just a source for fire," Vice President of Operations Kenny Mercado said. "So they contained that damage to that one local area and as a result of that, we were able to minimize any damage to our substation and minimize any damage to the grid."

No one in the area lost power and no one was injured.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.