Toddler's Plea To Go Outside May Have Saved Neighbors From Home Explosion

LAKE COUNTY, IL -- The Fohler family was hanging out inside their home in unincorporated Gurnee Friday evening when their 2.5-year-old boy started pleading to get outdoors. With cooler temps in the forecast, Ludek Fohler, the toddler's father, decided to take a walk to a nearby park to "warm us up" instead of simply playing in the family's backyard. A short time later, the family felt the ground shake and saw a plume of smoke and flames go up in the air, the Daily Herald reports.

The home next door, at 36437 Streamwood Drive in unincorporated Gurnee, had exploded.

The family rushed home while calling 911. Their daughter, Tara, was in her upstairs bedroom at the time doing her homework. All of the ceilings on the second floor fell into the bedrooms but Tara, and the family's dog, were able to escape major injury, according to the Daily Herald.

The blast could be felt six miles away and left one person dead in the home that exploded.

• 1 Dead In Home Explosion Near Gurnee
  

In total, six other homes were damaged by debris from the explosion. Prior to the explosion, several people in the neighborhood reported the smell of gas, the Daily Herald reports. The State Fire Marshall is investigating the cause of the explosion.

An autopsy will be performed Monday. Lake County Coroner Howard Cooper will use DNA or dental records to figure out the identity of the person killed in the explosion since the body was so badly burned, the Lake County-News Sun reports.

More via the Daily Herald and the Lake County News-Sun