At least 20 villagers were evacuated from their homes as firefighters battled a serious blaze near Newbury in Hampshire.
Thankfully nobody was injured in the explosion, which caused a column of black smoke to curl up from the two devastated houses and could be seen from Highclere Castle two miles away where Downton Abbey was filmed.
Ten pumps, two water carriers and 50 fire fighters were needed to bring the blaze at the properties in Woolton Hill under control over two hours last night.
The fire is understood to have ignited at one of the homes around 8.30pm on Tuesday before spreading to the other, with both "100% affected" according to RDS Basingstoke.
Firefighters then worked into the night to prevent the fire spreading any further.
It is thought the domestic kerosene oil supply for one of the houses sparked the blaze.
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One villager said "We heard a loud explosion. It was at about 8pm.
"An oil tank exploded and caught fire."
Some told emergency services who raced to the scene that they saw a manhole cover 'lifted into the air', initially raising fears that the underground mains gas supply had been hit.
Another local said: "Kerosene got into drainage system and caught fire underneath."
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service posted dramatic pictures from the scene on Twitter, with the fire not far from the Rampant Cat pub in Woolton Lodge Gardens.
A video shows plumes of smoke rising from the property's roof - which has large been destroyed - as a firefighter douses it in water from above.
Fiona Bennett, tweeted: "Happened to be out walking my greyhounds in Woolton Hill when I spotted this terrible fire.
"Huge explosion too - I believe there are 50 fire fighters in our sleepy little village. Thank you to them for their prompt response."
The evacuated villagers were allowed back into their homes at around midnight, around four hours after the explosion.
Hampshire Constabulary said "We are supporting our colleagues from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service this evening as they deal with a fire at Woolton Lodge Gardens, Newbury.
"We have closed the road to help ensure they can tackle the fire safely and are assisting with the evacuation of residents from the road as a precaution.
"As a result of this incident power supply to local homes might be affected,
so we would ask that if you have any problems to contact your energy supplier."
South Central Ambulance Service Incident Response Unit were pictured at the scene.
Basingstoke RDS tweeted: "H01C3 mobilised alongside H01A1 also from @Basingstoke_01 and numerous further appliances from @Hants_fire and @RBFRSofficial to 2x domestic properties well alight in Woolton Hill.
"Both properties 100% affected by fire, good work by crews to stop further spread," they added.
Hants Fire Control wrote: "We have attended an fire in Woolton Bridge this evening.
"The fire affected two properties. A total of 10 pumps, and 2 water carriers were in attendance at the incident, made up up appliances from Hampshire and Berkshire."
