SANFORD, Fla. — Some residents were deemed to be too close to Thursday morning's gas line rupture and massive resulting fire, and had to leave due to safety concerns.

People were jolted awake when the rupture ignited just before 1 a.m. in Sanford. 

A reverse 911 call was sent to over 800 homes in the Black Bear Wilderness Area near Michigan Avenue and Oregon Street. There were no injuries reported.

Resident Andy Tolbert said she felt her house shake. It woke her up and she came outside to find a fireball lighting up the sky.

“We could feel it, you could actually feel the heat," she said. "It was a very like a low rumbling that you could actually feel like vibrating your body.”

She said she got the reverse 911 call to evacuate around an hour later and police came to her home a short time after that. 

Other neighbors reported seeing the sky lit up and hearing roars in the distance.

Tolbert said she was allowed to return to her home at about 3:30 a.m.

“After we were standing out here for a few minutes, it was actually starting to get a scratchy throat from the the burned off gas fumes in the air everybody was calm," she said. 

"Everybody was kind of clearing their throats.“