RALEIGH, N.C. – Firefighters battled several fires in Raleigh Thursday afternoon, including a huge inferno that destroyed as many as 35 homes.

That fire sent thick, black smoke over North Raleigh’s busiest roadway, snarling traffic. The boulevard remained open, however. The fire was contained about 4:30 p.m., City Manager Russell Allen said.

No injuries in that fire have been reported.

The wind-driven flames destroyed up to 35 home or townhouses near Pine Knoll Drive and Old Buffaloe Road, Allen said. Several other homes had to be evacuated, while others were under construction.

Andrew Lassiter, a construction worker at the development, said he was taking a break at a Pizza Hut restaurant nearby when he heard a couple of little girls yelling “fire.”

Lassiter and two other men ran back to the site and saw what appeared to be fire coming from pipes in the ground, he said. Then they heard an explosion.

“It sounded like a bomb,” he said.

The Triangle Area Red Cross estimates that six to 10 families will need assistance, but is bracing for that number to increase, said executive director Barry Porter. Evacuees are being urged to gather at a nearby motel.