Deadly explosion at a house in Lake Zurich has leveled a house in north Chicago

The man whose body was pulled from the rubble could not be immediately identified, and sheriff’s officials could not immediately confirm whether the victim was the homeowner.

Two young children were playing basketball in the driveway several houses away when the house exploded. Debris was scattered across the sidewalk and the children ran, according to a scene captured by a neighbor’s security camera. Although the explosion was not caught on camera, an orange glow from the blast wave can be seen.

Tiffany Koch, a neighbor, told ABC Chicago affiliate WLS that she and other neighbors tried to rescue the man from the house. Koch described hearing a bang that some neighbors initially thought was a tree falling, and that there were shaking sounds for a brief second.

“I don’t think anyone knew what was going on, we just heard a loud bang,” Koch told the station. “We immediately saw the flames, the smoke. We tried to get into the house, but the flames were too high.”

Authorities investigating the explosion include fire inspectors from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Illinois State Fire Marshal, but they said it was too early to determine the cause.

Lake Zurich Fire Chief David Pilgard said there were no known problems in the area, such as gas line issues or arson. Investigators were in the midst of a “very mundane process” Wednesday afternoon, searching every room and item in the destroyed house, Pilgard told the Washington Post.

“They are proceeding very systematically, without constantly focusing on possible causes,” he said, noting that the process is expected to take several days and does not always lead to a conclusive result.