Officials with the Mississippi State Fire Marshal’s office and the insurer for the Tyson Foods Inc. plant in the Ceres Industrial Park are expected to be at the plant Sunday to determine the cause of an explosion and fire at the plant that occurred Friday night, the assistant chief for the Bovina Volunteer Fire Department said.

City and county firefighters were called to the plant after Vicksburg-Warren 911 dispatchers received a call about an explosion at the plant at 1725 Interplex Circle about 6:30 p.m. Friday.

“We had 35 firefighters from every department in the county and eight apparatus (trucks) respond to the fire,” said assistant Bovina fire chief Tim Bordelon.

Bordelon, who was the incident commander at the fire, said it began in the plant’s boiler room and firefighters managed to keep the fire contained in the boiler room and the outside roof of a storage area. No one was injured.

Mike Jones, a maintenance worker at the plant, said he was sitting in the building when he heard the explosion, adding it shook the building.

“I went outside the second break room and looked up and it (the roof) was engulfed inflames,” he said.

He said he used his radio to sound the alarm and get people to evacuate the building. Plant employees lined Interplex Circle in small groups as they watched firefighters.

Smoke and fire was visible on the building’s roof as firefighters worked to control and contain the fire, with volunteer firefighters attacking from the blaze from the ground, and Vicksburg using its aerial truck and attack flames on the roof.