Firefighters battled a massive blaze that erupted at a propane plant next to an airport in Arizona on Thursday.

The raging fire started in an industrial area just north of the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport at around 5 pm local time on Thursday July 20.

Planes could be seen taking off behind the fireball and cloud of black smoke.

The Phoenix Fire Department responded to the incident, clearing a one-mile radius around the site and dousing the flames as several five-gallon propane tanks exploded at the scene.

More than 150 firefighters and around 80 fire trucks were deployed to combat the blaze, which has been extinguished, Captain Scott Douglas, Phoenix Fire Department spokesperson, said.

Authorities said they were investigating the cause of the fire, which occurred amid a scorching heat wave baking the city.

A spokesperson for the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport said airport operations had not been affected.