Elderly man killed in house explosion in Chicago suburb

The body of a 77-year-old man was found after a house explosion in a Chicago suburb.

According to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, the explosion occurred in Lake Zurich around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday evening.

When rescue workers arrived, they found the house completely razed to the ground and in flames.

Neighbor Tiffany Koch, ABC 7 Chicago, ran outside after hearing the explosion.

“There was this loud bang. I don’t even know how to describe it,” Koch said. “It sounded like a tree had fallen, but there was no real shaking, except for that brief second.”

A nearby home surveillance camera captured the moment neighbors rushed to the scene.

Before firefighters could extinguish the flames, utility workers had to expose gas lines to cut off the natural gas supply to the building.

Two other houses were damaged in the explosion, but no further injuries were reported.

The man’s identity has not been disclosed, but he is believed to be the owner of the house.

“When my kids had fundraisers for school, we would go door to door to our neighbors,” neighbor Wil Juarez told the ABC affiliate. “He was very nice. He was one of those people who bought something every year and said, ‘Come back next year.'”

The state fire safety commissioner is investigating the cause of the explosion.

“Explosions of this nature – and we have not yet identified the cause of what happened – can be very severe and can level a home like this,” Lake Zurich Fire Department Chief David Pilgard told NBC News Chicago.