NORCO – An explosion at the Valero Refinery late Saturday Night rattled quite a few homes in the St. Charles area, but no injuries were reported, according to Valero officials.

An explosion and fire caused heavy damage to a hydro-diesel unit that the refinery uses in its production of diesel.

The explosion occurred at 11:30 p.m. Saturday night and officials from the plant’s corporate office are going to assist in determining what exactly caused the explosion, according to Valero officials.

The processing capacity for the plant has been slowed to about half its normal production according to Valero Plant manager Gary Simmons, but should be back to capacity shortly.

Local residents in the Ormond subdivision said they could feel the explosion from their homes and people in the area were able to see the flames caused by the fire for miles away from the plant.

Sections of River Road and Prospect Ave. were shut down for about two hours following the explosion but the St. Charles Parish Emergency Operations Center concluded no evacuation was necessary.