At least one person is dead and others are injured after reports of an explosion and a major house fire that sent smoke billowing into the sky near Spring Grove Friday morning.
The Fox Lake Fire Protection District and Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 11:58 a.m. Friday to the 38300 block of North 6th Avenue in unincorporated Spring Grove for a possible structure fire.
There were reports of an explosion with a house on fire and people trapped inside, according to emergency radio traffic.
Fire crews arrived and found heavy flames and smoke coming from a single-family residence.
Firefighters reported two people were unaccounted for and crews began searching for them. Three ambulances were called to the scene.
The two victims were found and rescued, with paramedics performing CPR and lifesaving measures on at least one of them, a bystander reported.
A third person was also reported to be injured. At least one ambulance transported to the hospital from the scene but the conditions of the injured victims was not immediately known.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office confirmed that a female resident in her 80s died at the scene.
An autopsy is scheduled for Monday morning and her identity has not been released yet.
The incident was upgraded through the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) to the box alarm level for additional fire departments to assist.
A natural gas leak was found and Nicor Gas was called to the scene with an expedited response to mitigate the leak, which was reported to also require a digging crew. ComEd was also called due to downed power lines.
As of 3 p.m., firefighters remained at the scene working to extinguish remaining hot spots and conducting overhaul operations.
The fire occurred in an unincorporated area that has no fire hydrants so firefighters had to set up rural water operations and haul water to the scene using fire department tender trucks.
Heavy black smoke could be seen in the distance coming from the Lotus Woods subdivision.
Fire officials have not indicated what may have caused the fire but the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal is assisting in the investigation.
This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.