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The incident heavily damaged a building at the Back River Waste Water Treatment plant, but did not interrupt operations, according to Baltimore County officials.
Crews were first called to the scene around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 15, for reports of a building fire and explosion.
Upon arrival, the fire was located in a large industrial building used by Baltimore City contractor, Synagro, which converts waste into pellets for agricultural use.
Multiple fires were reportedly found inside the Synagro building.
Seven people were working in the building at the time of the explosion and were able to immediately escape, officials said.
The entire plant, which is owned by Baltimore City, treats wastewater for the metropolitan region.
The incident did not involve any hazardous materials and does not pose a public health or safety threat, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment.
Firefighters worked tirelessly for hours to contain the fire, which was finally under control around 3 p.m., on Wednesday.
Firefighters initially evacuated firefighters due to the heavy damage the building had suffered but reassessed the building shortly after, sending crews in to extinguish the flames with foam.
Crews reportedly allowed some of the 12,000 gallons of thermal oil stored in the building to burn before attempting to extinguish the rest of the flames.
According to Baltimore County officials, the oil is not a threat to environmental or public health.
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