PINE GROVE — Residents were allowed to safely return home after emergency officials ordered an evacuation in southwestern St. Helena Parish on Saturday due to a pipeline blowout. Shaking was felt a dozen miles away.

"My entire house shook like a bomb went off," said Donald Fry, who lives about a quarter-mile away from the blast site. "We're getting out of here in case there is a gas leak."

Law enforcement officers said the scene was along Nesom Road between Pine Grove in St. Helena Parish and Watson in northern Livingston Parish.

Carey Dover, who lives west of Greensburg, about 10 miles from the blast site, wrote to WBRZ to report feeling the blast.

"I felt the boom and it rattled floors and windows," Dover wrote. "I am between 12 to 15 miles as the crow flies.

"I called the St. Helena Sheriff's Office literally within 1.5 minutes after the boom to find out it was a pipeline explosion," Dover wrote. "I thought it was the pipeline behind our property. That's how close it sounded."  

Officials said a pressure buildup in a natural gas line caused the blowout around 12 p.m., leading to residents within a 1.5-mile radius being evacuated with the help of the St. Helena Fire Department, St. Helena Emergency Response, the St. Helena Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness and the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office. 

About 20 minutes after the explosion, residents said it seemed the pipeline was still leaking.

"It sounds like a jet engine," Fry said as he drove away.

Jacob Pucheu, Sergeant over Regional I Public Affairs for the Louisiana State Police, said this isn't the first time something like this has happened. 

"It's pretty common. We actually deal with this pretty frequently throughout the state," Pucheu said. "Our hazmat hotline gets calls frequently, and our emergency services troopers respond and make sure the scene is safe."

The Louisiana State Police Hazardous Materials Section and the Florida Gas Transmission Company responded to the incident and deemed it safe for residents to return just before 1 p.m.