Fire officials from throughout Lake and McHenry counties remain on the scene of fire that neighbors said exploded before being completely engulfed in flames in Lake Zurich late Tuesday.
Multiple neighbors of the home in the 23500 block of Overhill Drive said on the Lake & McHenry County Facebook site their house shook and pictures fell off the walls from the force of the blast just after 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Immediately fire crews from around Lake Zurich were called in with fire trucks and tankers to run water to the scene.
Brenda Gornick said on the Lake & McHenry County Facebook page late Tuesday that she lives near Hunter’s Creek and Chestnut Corners and her house shook from the force of the explosion.
“I thought it was a large firework near my house that had gone off,” she said.
Images downloaded to the Lake & McHenry Scanner social media showed the house was completely engulfed in flames at about 9:00 p.m.
Bystanders were pushed 100 feet from the house while firefighters fought the blaze and a neighbor told a Lake & McHenry County Scanner reporter at the scene the explosion shook the entire neighborhood.
Another neighbor said he looked outside after the explosion saw the house on Overhill Drive fully engulfed in flames.
The Lake Zurich Fire Fire Department raised the fire to a third alarm before the blaze was deemed under control just before 10 p.m.
Nearly every fire department and fire district from Lake, McHenry and northern Cook counties were called to the scene to assist.
Officials from Nicor Gas are on scene to assist in investigating the cause of the explosion.
The cause of the blaze, explosion and whether anyone was in the house at the time of the explosion is unknown at this point.
Check back to Lake & McHenry County Scanner for updates as they are available.