A Chicago home exploded on Tuesday evening, leaving one person dead and nearby children running for their lives.
A neighbor’s security camera captured the moment two kids were playing basketball in the driveway of a Lake Zurich home on North Overhill Road when the neighboring house erupted in a fiery explosion, per NBC 5.
The blast caused the boy closest to the home to fall to the ground, while the other child dashed away in panic.
The fallen boy was seen desperately backing away from the blaze before getting up and running to safety.
"Call 911!" a voice off-camera shouted urgently.
Ulises Hernandez, the owner of the security camera that recorded the explosion, recounted the moment. He said he was watching TV with his wife while their son, Emanuel, played outside when the incident occurred.
“We heard a loud boom, and it shook the house,” Hernandez told NBC 5. “We panicked.”
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office reported that the explosion completely leveled the home, with officials confirming the recovery of an adult man's body from the debris.
While the authorities did not immediately identify the victim, neighbors stated that the home belonged to a 77-year-old man who lived alone.
“He’s retired,” neighbor Tiffany Koch told ABC 7. “But really, he was kind of a loner. He was kind of all to himself.”
"When my kids had school fundraisers we'd go door to door to neighbors," neighbor Wil Juarez said. "He was very nice. He was one of those guys who would buy every year and say come back next year."
"Just like that, the house went up and a big boom then I ran," neighborhood resident Emanuel Hernandez said. "It was just a lot in one moment."
Residents along the block reported feeling their homes shake from the explosion. Koch noted that the blast even knocked some items off the walls of her home.
"It was close and to not know what it was, I think that was the scariest part we didn't know what was going on," she said.
Firefighters faced initial difficulties extinguishing the blaze due to the absence of hydrants in the unincorporated neighborhood.
Crews also struggled to shut off the gas lines, as the gas meter was destroyed. They had to wait for NICOR to dig up the natural gas line to turn it off and fully extinguish the flames.
"The flames were so intense that the trees were catching on fire," neighborhood resident Mark Schultz also told the outlet. "I actually saw branches falling down on top of the firefighters' heads. It was a very dangerous situation."
No other residents or firefighters were injured in the explosion and subsequent fire.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation by Lake County officials and the Illinois State Fire Marshal.
