Lake Zurich firefighters: 77-year-old man killed in explosion that destroys house on Overhill Drive

LAKE ZURICH, Ill. (WLS) — One person died Tuesday evening after an explosion destroyed a house on Lake Zurich, authorities said.

Around 8:28 p.m., firefighters received calls about an explosion at 23549 N. Overhill Road, the Lake Zurich Fire Department said.

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“The flames were so intense that the trees were catching fire,” said Mark Schultz, a resident of the neighborhood. “I actually saw branches falling on the firefighters' heads. It was a very dangerous situation.”

Moments later, firefighters arrived and found the house engulfed in flames. They immediately worked to contain the fire while evacuating residents from nearby homes.

“Just like that, the house was built and there was a big boom, and then I ran,” said Emanuel Hernández, a neighborhood resident. “It was just a lot of stuff in one moment.”

Firefighters initially had difficulty putting out the fire because there are no fire hydrants in the unincorporated neighborhood. Crews also had difficulty shutting off the gas lines, as authorities said the gas meter was destroyed and crews had to wait for NICOR to dig up the natural gas line to shut off the gas and extinguish the flames .

The Lake County Sheriff's Office said a body was found in the rubble. The Lake County coroner is still trying to identify the 77-year-old man who died in the fire, but said he is likely the owner of the home.

“He’s retired,” neighbor Tiffany Koch said. “But actually, he was pretty lonely. He was pretty much on his own.”

“When my kids had school fundraisers, we would go door to door to neighbors,” said neighbor Wil Juarez. “He was very nice. He was one of those guys who bought every year and said to come back next year.”

The security system at Ulises Hernández's home captured the moment the explosion occurred, sending her son and his friend who were playing outside running.

“They really suffered the explosion,” Ulises Hernández said. “One of the neighbor's children was ejected and this shows where the fire and explosion is in the footage.”

Residents living all along the block reported feeling their homes shake from the explosion, although initially they had no idea what it was. Koch said the explosion even knocked some items off the wall of his house.

“It was close and not knowing what it was, I think that was the scariest part, we didn’t know what was happening,” she said.

Chopper7 was flying over the house destroyed by the explosion. Investigators are on site trying to understand how the house exploded.

“They don’t want to settle for one thing without looking at everything,” said Lake Zurich Fire Chief David Pilgard.

All neighbors were found and no firefighters were injured.