( CNN ) -- A CSX freight train collided with a commercial truck and derailed in the Baltimore area Tuesday , officials said , seriously injuring the truck 's driver and leading to an explosion that a witness said could be felt blocks away . The crash happened in Rosedale , just to the east of Baltimore , firefighter Jonathan Meehan of Baltimore County said . The truck driver was taken to a hospital and is in serious but stable condition . An explosion and fire followed , sending up plumes of black smoke . But officials said there was little cause for concern . `` CSX indicates that there is no toxic inhalants , so we do not believe there is any substantial risk to the community , '' Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz told reporters . He said multiple buildings were damaged . Firefighters brought the blaze under control late Tuesday , Capt . Bruce Schultz with Baltimore County Fire Department said . As a precaution , authorities asked residents in some 60 to 70 homes to evacuate if they felt unsafe . `` We 're going to look at establishing a shelter here in Rosedale . We 'll provide transportation , but it 's all voluntary , '' Hohman said . The cause of the accident was not immediately clear . The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a team to investigate . Video from CNN affiliate WBAL showed at least five of the train 's cars off the track , and white and black smoke rising in separate columns from the wreckage . Kevin Lindemann told CNN he was working in Baltimore Windustrial , a plumbing supply warehouse along the track , when he felt something `` like an earthquake . '' He went to a window . `` The first thing you see is two or three train cars flipped over the side , sliding down the track , '' said Lindemann , a sales representative at the warehouse , which he said is a few blocks from the nearest train-road intersection . Seeing one of the train 's cars on fire , Lindemann and the other people in the warehouse left the building and drove away . The explosion happened after he and the others congregated a few blocks away , he said . `` I could n't see ( the explosion ) directly , but it was deafening , '' he said . `` It almost forced you to your knees . There were a couple people that were knocked down by it . '' The warehouse appeared to be damaged from the blast , Lindemann said after seeing aerial video of the crash site on TV . CNN iReporter Charlotte Curtis sent video of thick smoke with sirens wailing in the background . She said she was walking her puppy when she heard a big boom . The puppy went down on her belly , scared . `` It was huge , louder than any race car . It felt like it just knocked me in my back , '' Curtis said . 5 hospitalized after Connecticut train derailment . CNN 's Dana Ford and Shannon Travis contributed to this report .
NEW : The cause of the accident is not clear ; NTSB will investigate . Officials believe no toxic inhalants were aboard . Driver of truck is only person injured . Witness : 'Deafening ' explosion followed derailment .