Two kids playing basketball on a driveway near Lake Zurich received the shock of their lives when a house a couple of doors down exploded near Lake Zurich late Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, the Lake County Coroner said further testing needs to be completed before the identity of the person found among the rubble of the home that exploded in the 23000 block of Overhill Drive in unincorporated Lake County at about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday can be determined.
In the doorbell video posted on YouTube by Ulises Hernandez, two kids are playing basketball in the front yard when the home explodes behind them, knocking one of the children to the ground.
The children run off screaming before people leave their homes and notice the house down the street in flames.
The children were not injured but were clearly shaken by the blast as they ran away.
Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek said in a statement at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday that additional testing, potentially involving DNA or dental records, will be needed before it’s determined if the 77-year-old homeowner at the address was the person found dead inside the rubble of the home that exploded and caught fire Tuesday.
She added in the release that autopsy results indicate the deceased had injuries consistent with inhalation of products of combustion, but added toxicology testing – including carbon monoxide testing – is pending
Lake Zurich Fire Chief David Pilgard said at the scene early Wednesday morning the fire department was called to the home in the Forest Lake subdivision at 8:28 p.m. and found the single-story home heavily engulfed in flames upon arrival.
He said the explosion leveled the house and damaged two neighboring homes to the north and south.
In the video from Hernandez, debris can be seen landing in the driveway near where the children were playing two doors down.
Occupants of the home were unknown and unaccounted for when the fire department started to douse the fire, Pilgard said.
Firefighters also immediately began to check on neighbors to ensure everyone was safe, Pilgrad said.
“The main concerns this evening were accounting for the residents of the house where the incident actually occurred,” Pilgard said. “Our next priority was two things: the neighboring houses to make sure that those residents were accounted for, ensuring they did not start on fire this evening, along with establishing a water supply to extinguish the fire.”
A Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was immediately activated to bring in additional manpower and water due to a lack of hydrants in the neighborhood.
Pilgard said the fire department upgraded the call to the third alarm for additional water and manpower before the fire was deemed under control late at about 10 p.m. Tuesday.
A total of 14 water trucks, 16 engines, 3 ladder trucks, 5 squads, 5 ambulances, 14 chiefs, and a rehabilitation canteen truck responded to the incident, Pilgard said.
Neighboring homes suffered damage due to the initial explosion and some damage from the accompanying fire, Pilgard said.
Officials from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Illinois State Fire Marshall, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, and the Lake County Division 4 Investigators task force were called to the scene to investigate the fire and determine the origin and cause of the explosion, authorities said.
ComEd and Nicor also responded to the scene, Pilgard said.
Nicor was requested to dig up a natural gas line to the house after a gas meter was damaged in the explosion and free-flowing natural gas saturated the area, he said.
Pilgard said the fire is “not necessarily suspicious, but definitely warrants investigation to determine the cause of the explosion.”
The Lake Zurich Fire Department received assistance from fire districts and departments including the Antioch Fire Protection District, Barrington, Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District, Buffalo Grove, Carpentersville, Cary Fire Protection District, Countryside Fire Protection District, Crystal Lake, Deerfield-Bannockburn Fire Protection District, Des Plaines, Fox Lake Fire Protection District, Fox River Grove, Grayslake, Greater Round Lake Fire Protection District, Gurnee, Highland Park, Hoffman Estates, Inverness Fire Protection District, Lake Forest, Lake Villa, Libertyville, Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Fire Protection District, Long Grove Fire Protection District, McHenry Fire Protection District, Mount Prospect, Mundelein, Newport Township Fire Protection District, Northbrook, Nunda, Palatine, Prospect Heights, Richmond, Rolling Meadows, Round Lake, Schaumberg, Spring Grove, Streamwood, Wauconda Fire Protection District, Wheeling, and Waukegan.
Multiple residents living on or near the Overhill Drive home said their house shook from the force of the explosion.
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 blast.
“I thought it was a large firework near my house that had gone off,” she said.