CYPRESS, Texas – A fire in Cypress burned three homes that were under construction, destroying one and seriously damaging two others.
"It was big, it was very big and I thought all the houses around it were going to catch on fire," said Van LaFollette, a neighbor.
The newly-built homes are in the Cypress Creek Lakes South neighborhood.
The fire happened at about 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday after fire officials said a contractor who was putting in post holes for a fence accidentally hit a natural gas line that sparked the blaze.
Witnesses said the fire was so big they could see the smoke billowing from several miles away.
"It was totally black," one witness said. "You could obviously tell that it was a house on fire."
The Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department said 45 firefighters and 8 units responded to the call.
It took firefighters about four hours to put the fire out completely because the gas line continued to burn for several hours until the utility company shut it down.
The contractor suffered minor burns and was treated and released on scene.
Investigators are now trying to figure out why he hit the gas line.
"We're going to be talking to the workers to find out if they were in an area that wasn't marked or was marked and they were still digging," said Harris County Fire Marshal Capt. Dean Hensley
Fire officials encourage you to contact the local gas company before doing any type of construction work near your home so crews can come out and mark the gas lines ahead of time.
"Thankfully that house wasn't fully built and nobody was living in it but it could have been worse," said LaFollette.