One Person Injured In Elgin House Explosion
UPDATED: 9/16/2014 10:25 a.m.
ELGIN (CBS) -- One person was injured in a house explosion in Elgin on Monday night, causing about $150,000 in damage, according to fire officials.
The Elgin Fire Department responded to the explosion shortly before 10 p.m. and found a resident of the single-story home in the front yard. That person was taken to Advocate Sherman Hospital and was admitted to the intensive care unit.
The front and east side of the home in the 1100 block of Morningside Drive were blown out by the explosion, with a large fire burning on the side and in the basement.
"It shook me out of my chair," said neighborhood resident Stephanie Knight. "It was gigantic blast. It almost felt like a fireball cause there was a flash of light."
The fire was brought under control in about 10 minutes.
Another neighbor, Danny Smart immediately grabbed a flash light and went to investigate.
"I came farther down and shined my life trying to find where the noise came from, and I saw the whole side of the house was blown out."
A total of 10 companies were called to help fight the blaze.
No out-of-town fire companies were required.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Officials suspect a gas leak may have caused the blast.
The homeowner told fire fighters that he turned on his furnace for the first time this season.
Officials suspect that a problem with the furnace caused a build up of gas which exploded.
The homeowner may be lucky that the home actually exploded. If not, he may have slept through the night and been overcome by A fatal dose of fumes, fire officials said.
NICOR crews were on hand working to stabilize the gas line.