An 84-year-old man, who was a former attorney, has been identified after he died following an explosion that engulfed a barn in flames on his property near Antioch Friday.
The Newport Township Fire Protection District responded around 6:30 p.m. Friday to the 43100 block of North Crawford Road in unincorporated Antioch for a report of a barn fire.
Newport Fire Chief Mark Kirschhoffer told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that the family at the residence called 911 to report the fire.
Crews arrived to find a barn fully engulfed in flames.
The burning barn was approximately 100 feet from a single-family home.
An older adult male resident was found outside with severe burns, Kirschhoffer said.
He was identified as Kenneth Clark, 84, who resided at the home on the property.
The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was activated to the box alarm level to bring additional fire departments to the scene. At least eight fire departments assisted at the scene.
The barn is in an area with no fire hydrants so water had to be hauled to the scene, Kirschhoffer said.
Paramedics transported Clark to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville.
Clark was then transferred to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood for treatment of his burns.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said Clark died in the hospital Saturday evening.
No animals were inside the barn, which was used to store farm equipment, vehicles and a boat, Kirschhoffer said.
Firefighters remained on the scene until around 10:30 p.m. The barn was a total loss.
The house adjacent to the barn remains habitable and only sustained paint browning as a result of the heat.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal are investigating the incident.
Newport Township Fire Protection District Captain Tom Flader said in an update Monday that a preliminary investigation revealed an explosion occurred while a tractor was being refueled.
The fire is considered accidental in nature, Flader added.
The Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission reported that Clark was admitted to practice as an attorney in 1965 and had recently retired around 2021.
Clark owned his own law practice with an office out of Antioch.