Blast Rocks Neighborhood Saturday Morning
» Karen Haave - Frankfort Neue Press - 09.11.08
Investigators said late Sunday that natural gas may have been the cause of an early morning blast that rocked a quiet Frankfort neighborhood on Saturday, demolishing one home and seriously damaging a dozen others.
Longtime village residents Clyde Reils, 89, and his wife, Luella, 87, were fatally injured in the 5:40 a.m. explosion of their home at 144 Sycamore Lane.
The couple, described by neighbors as "wonderful people," had just moved into the house a few months ago, after having lived down the street at 119 Sycamore in a raised ranch model. Neighbors said the elderly couple wanted to stay nearby, so they bought the single-level ranch at the 144 address.
Sycamore Lane homeowners near the Reils' residence were evacuated, and gas and electric services were shut off after the explosion. Village inspectors went door-to-door checking damages in homes, and some were tagged unsafe for occupancy.
Neighbors likened the explosion to a bomb going off or a plane crashing, and said that it knocked them out of bed. They reported shattered windows, cracked walls, crumbled ceilings, a buckled garage door, and missing chunks of roof.
» Karen Haave - Frankfort Neue Press - 09.11.08
Investigators said late Sunday that natural gas may have been the cause of an early morning blast that rocked a quiet Frankfort neighborhood on Saturday, demolishing one home and seriously damaging a dozen others.
Longtime village residents Clyde Reils, 89, and his wife, Luella, 87, were fatally injured in the 5:40 a.m. explosion of their home at 144 Sycamore Lane.
The couple, described by neighbors as "wonderful people," had just moved into the house a few months ago, after having lived down the street at 119 Sycamore in a raised ranch model. Neighbors said the elderly couple wanted to stay nearby, so they bought the single-level ranch at the 144 address.
Sycamore Lane homeowners near the Reils' residence were evacuated, and gas and electric services were shut off after the explosion. Village inspectors went door-to-door checking damages in homes, and some were tagged unsafe for occupancy.
Neighbors likened the explosion to a bomb going off or a plane crashing, and said that it knocked them out of bed. They reported shattered windows, cracked walls, crumbled ceilings, a buckled garage door, and missing chunks of roof.
