The site is located behind a Carlsbad fire station, and Lt. Jason Lowe said he was inside when he heard the roar.
``It sounded like a jet airplane landing,'' Lowe said. ``We went outside and saw a black liquid-type substance spurting straight up into the air. It was spurting well over the height of the drilling rig. Then there was a big dust coming up from the ground.''
A team from Midland, Texas, will try to cap the well, said Carlsbad Fire Department Lt. Gary Aldaz, but city officials estimated the evacuation could last several days.
Some residents inhaled fumes before the evacuation and required treatment. The evacuees stayed with family and friends, at hotels and an evacuation center, and a fire official said the city provided hotel vouchers for evacuated residents.
The 10-man drilling crew at the site escaped unharmed, said Assistant Fire Chief Frank Navarrette.
Mayor Bob Forrest said there would be an investigation and the city would revisit its ordinances on drilling.
``It's certainly a wake-up call for everybody,'' he said. ``Thank God it didn't catch on fire.''
The owner of the drilling rig, Houston-based Chi Operating Inc., declined to comment when contacted by the Carlsbad Current-Argus. The city is about 30 miles north of the Texas border in southeastern New Mexico.
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