Officials said the cause of a deadly home explosion in a northwest Chicago suburb remains under investigation.
Speaking at a press conference hours after the frightening incident, Lake Zurich Fire Chief David Pilgard said firefighters faced a number of obstacles when it came to putting out flames following the explosion and protecting nearby homes.
"Explosions of that nature - and we're not citing the cause yet of what happened - it can be very significant for it to level a house like this," Pilgard said.
The deadly explosion happened around 8:30 p.m. in the 23500 block of North Overhill Road, according to the Lake County Sheriff's office.
Firefighters and first responders were called to the scene for a report of an explosion and arrived to find "a home completely leveled," the sheriff's office said.
Pilgard stressed that there was no remaining threat to the community as gas lines to the home had been turned off and air quality tested, but with no clear explanation to what happened, some residents were worried.
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"I've interacted with members of the community, reassured them we're going to try the best we can to find the cause," Pilgard said.
Meanwhile, firefighters responding to the scene had to battle the flames despite no fire hydrants in the community. The gas meter for the home was also damaged in the blast, which meant Nicor Gas had to dig up the gas line going to the home to shut it off, Pilgard said.
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Officials were working to confirm the identity and medical information in connection with the man who was found dead inside the home following the explosion.
The homeowner, a 77-year-old man, was unaccounted for after the explosion, but officials said Wednesday morning the body of an adult man had been recovered from the debris.
Video from a nearby home's security cameras captured the frightening moment of the explosion.
In the video, two children can be seen playing basketball in a driveway when flames shoot out from a home. The children run for help as neighbors leave their homes to see what happened.
"Call 911," one person can be heard shouting.
Ulises Hernandez, whose cameras captured the footage, said he was watching television in his house with his wife when the explosion happened.
"We heard loud boom and it shook the house. We panicked. We knew the kids were outside," he told NBC Chicago. "Check the back to see [if] they were in the trampoline, they weren’t there. So immediately ran out. I heard my wife screaming call 911."
Hernandez's son Emanuel was one of the children seen playing basketball at the time of the blast.
"A big rush of fear, scary situation. I didn’t think I’d ever see that," he said.
Despite the extreme nature of the explosion, Pilgard said there was no major damage done to nearby homes.
"It's a good thing that no other houses sustained major damage. There were a few pieces of debris that hit the other houses along with the heat damage they sustained from the fire," he said.
