Firefighters are tackling a blaze at an industrial premises where explosions and a strong chemical smell have been reported.
A huge plume of thick, black smoke can be seen billowing from the site on Juno Drive in Leamington Spa.
Properties nearby have been evacuated, while people living within 70m were urged to shut doors and windows.
Police said one person was unaccounted for and emergency services were working to locate them.
One resident said she kept hearing "small explosions".
Anna Harrington-Ridley was walking to work in nearby Whitnash when she first saw smoke at about 10:30 BST.
She said: "I saw a little plume of smoke and thought it might be the allotments but it quickly got a lot darker and a lot bigger in the space of about two minutes and I realised it was definitely something a bit more serious.
"I was stood down there at the end of the road that has been blocked off and you could see the massive plume of smoke, there was fire, explosions, all sorts of things."
She added there was also a "strong chemical smell".
Resident Ben Coleman also reported an odour and explosive sounds.
"There's a bit of a smell.
"I heard small explosions, nothing too big, it was a few, like, pops."
Mr Coleman spotted the smoke from his window while working at home.
"I could see a big dark cloud, and I thought it was a thunderstorm, then I looked to my right and saw a big plume of smoke coming up from the building.
"Police had closed off the road leading to it, because it is in an industrial estate. [A] Lot of other places had got their staff out of the buildings."
Local Labour MP Matt Western said he heard the fire may involve chemicals from a plastics business unit.
From the scene, BBC Midlands Today correspondent Giles Latcham tweeted to say there appeared to be polystyrene falling from the sky.
Huge fire in Leamington Spa. Charred lumps of what looks like polystyrene falling from the sky @bbcmtd pic.twitter.com/99ciCSLBOE
— Giles Latcham (@GilesLatcham) August 27, 2021
Kevin Hughes said he too was working from home when he noticed the sky had turned very grey.
"I saw some post in the local Facebook group... and when I walked to the back [of my property] I could see this massive plume of grey smoke floating over."
He said he had been able to see the fire since about 11:00 BST - and it did not look to be abating.
Warwickshire Police has joined Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service at the scene - as has the neighbouring West Midlands Fire Service.
West Midlands Ambulance Service said it was called at 10:38 BST, and one ambulance, a paramedic officer and a Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) were at the scene.
It said it currently had no patients.
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2021-08-27 12:16:00Z
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