A oil and fuel-storage building outside of Evansville caught fire Friday morning, causing employees to evacuate the facility immediately.

Authorities said the fire started around 9:45 a.m. at the warehouse of Link Oil Company, located at 6000 E. Yellowstone. The company both stores and transports fuel and oil. No injuries were reported.

Natrona County fire investigator Dave Baker said the fire started from a static spark as employees were performing a fueling operation.

"Any time you're pouring a liquid from one container to another, especially if its going into plastic or from plastic, there's always the potential for static build-up," Baker said. "That's why they tell you not to fill plastic jugs in the back of your pickup."

Baker estimated about 20 percent of the warehouse had extensive fire damage. A few vehicles were also damaged from fire exposure.

Stewart Anderson, coordinator for Natrona County Emergency Management, said the fire was both inside and outside the building's warehouse. Because the company stores so much oil and fuel, the blaze could have been much larger.

"It did have a lot of potential," Anderson said. "The fire departments got right on it."

Firefighters are prepared to deal with a variety of fires, Anderson said. Both water and foam were used in putting out the fire.

"Every single fire is different," Anderson said.

Members of the Casper and Evansville's fire departments responded to the fire, as did the Natrona County Emergency Management, Natrona County Fire District, the county healthy department and Wyoming Medical Center.

Officials from the Evansville Police Department and the Natrona County Sheriff's Department were also on hand.

Rodney Hess, the warehouse foreman at the neighboring Halliburton Company, said he arrived at work after a doctor's appointment and saw the fire.

"As I pulled in the yard, I saw flames coming from the west side of the Link Oil building," Hess said, adding that it looked as if something had spilled and caught fire, since most of the flames were on the ground.

The owner of Link Oil, Todd Van Rensselaer, said employees did nothing unusual that would have started the fire.

"What we were doing was common practice. We take every precaution we can," Van Rensselaer said, again noting the fire was accidental. "[It's the] same as your little old lady that accidentally ignites a pump at the gas station."

Reach education reporter Jasa Santos at (307) 266-0593 or at Jasa.Santos@trib.com