The man whose body was pulled from the rubble was not immediately identified and sheriff’s officials could not immediately confirm whether the victim was the owner of the home.
Two young children were playing basketball in the driveway several houses away when the house exploded, scattering debris onto the sidewalk and sending the children running, according to a scene captured by a neighbor’s security camera. Although the explosion was not filmed, an orange glow emitted by the explosion is visible.
Tiffany Koch, a neighbor, told ABC Chicago affiliate WLS that she and other neighbors tried to save the man in the house. Koch described hearing a boom, which some neighbors initially thought was a falling tree, and a brief second of shaking.
“I don’t think anyone knew what was going on, we just heard a big boom,” Koch told the station. “We immediately saw the flames, the smoke. We tried to enter the house, but the flames were too high. »
Fire investigators from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Illinois State Fire Marshal are among the agencies investigating the explosion. Neither agency immediately responded to questions about the investigation Wednesday.
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