"It was just devastating," said Robert Foulem, 46, who lives near Englehart, Ont., which is about 200 kilometres north of North Bay, Ont.

Foulem said he and his two sons, aged seven and 12, were thrown nearly two metres into the air when the blast, which he estimates was about two kilometres from their home, occurred Saturday afternoon.

"Within two seconds, the shock wave just picked us up and threw us. The boys thought they were going to die," Foulem told Canwest News Service.

"When we got up again, there was a pillar of fire about 200 metres high, possibly higher, and the roar sounded like the external tanks on the space shuttle. My kids were just terrified."

The Ontario Provincial Police called to warn him he might have to leave, for fear that two adjacent pipelines were damaged in the blast and further explosions could be triggered, Foulem said.

On Saturday night, the OPP confirmed that a blast had occurred in Chamberlain, Ont., around 1 p.m. local time, and people living in a one-kilometres radius were evacuated.

"There were no injuries, and there's no evidence of foul play at this time — so that's good news," OPP Sgt. Charlotte Gaudreau told Canwest News on Saturday night.

TransCanada Pipelines employees and officials with the Ministry of Natural Resources worked to extinguish ground fires caused by the explosion, Gaudreau said, then left the scene Saturday evening.

The investigation is ongoing, she said.

Representatives with TransCanada didn't immediately respond to a request for an interview.

"We're ready to leave at a moment's notice," Foulem said, adding he was a child when a massive explosion occurred in 1979 along the pipeline not far away.

"So I automatically knew, this time, exactly what it was. But my boys thought it was a plane crash or something."