Local News

Couple Dies In S. Suburban House Explosion

Neighborhood Still Reeling From Event

FRANKFORT, Ill. (CBS) ― An elderly couple is dead after their southwest suburban Frankfort home exploded Saturday morning.

About 5:40 a.m., a house exploded in the 100 block of Sycamore Lane, taking the lives of Clyde Reils, 89, and Luella Reils, 87.

Saturday was supposed to be just another day, but what appears to be a massive gas explosion, ended their lives.

Nicor Gas received word of the explosion at 144 N. Sycamore Lane just before 6 a.m. and had emergency crews on the scene before 7 a.m., company spokesman Richard Caragol said.

When Nicor arrived on the scene, parts of the rubble were still on fire and crews could not get in to turn off the gas until about 9:30 a.m., according to Caragol.

But the explosion was felt for blocks.

Case in point: a shirt on a hanger. It may not seem that unusual until you find out it's hanging 35-feet up in a tree. That's where it landed after it was blown out of house that used to stand where a pile of debris now sits. 

The early morning blast was a frightening wake up call for many in the neighborhood.

"I was looking at the clock and it said 5:34 and it literally moved the furniture in our house," said neighbor Kevin Ziegler. "It knocked me out of my bed."

Joe Bella thought it came from the sky.

"It was a loud explosion; I thought it was an aircraft crash," he said.

Most neighbors didn't know what to think when they stumbled out of their houses into a debris field that spread for three blocks.

"I never heard nothing like that in my life," said neighbor Pete Meneghetti. "I couldn't figure out what happened. It was like…you know, like a bomb going off."

But once outside, neighbors heard the telltale sound of escaping gas.

"But then when I got closer I heard the gas hissing, so I said we better get out of here," Meneghetti said. 

CBS 2 Photojournalist Scott Placko reported earlier that neighbors said there was a fire ball that went off over the house that was going for a good 15 minutes until the fire department came. They waited for the flames to subside before they started putting water on it. 

Investigators continued to comb through debris into the early evening hours, but say it may be a while before they can determine a cause.

"All of a sudden you see this house is devastated -- there's nothing there. It's just gone," said neighbor Bill Bolhuis.

"It was about 5:30 this morning when a tremendous boom exploded," said neighbor Philip Ferentchak. 

"...I didn't know if it was lightning, or a plane hit our house or what happened," said neighbor Chip Krusemark.

After the blast, the block appeared to be a war zone.

"The street was just covered with brick, two-by-fours, roofing and everything else," Bolhuis.

"I have turned in to the authorities today all kinds of personal checks, with her signature on it -- I'm holding in my hand from a lady that was alive at 5:30 this morning," said Krusemark.

And even those who didn't see the aftermath of the blast that destroyed two homes, heavily damaged six others, and slightly damaged five more likely heard the early morning concussion. People living as far as five miles away say they were awakened by the blast.

That's why the entire area remains fenced off. The block is also closed to traffic for the safety of residents.

Red stickers on the windows indicate several damaged homes in the neighborhood are not approved for occupancy. Green stickers indicate home owners can return.

"Fortunately, ours in not in too bad a shape," Bolhuis said. "We had a couple garage doors just kinda get blown inward, I guess."

The couple that lived in the home, married for 67 years, just moved into the ranch style home this year so that 88-year-old Clyde could avoid walking up and down stairs.

Frankfort's police chief Rob Piscia says the Reils were well known longtime residents.

"I just know that they were very down home people, very active -- just a great couple," he said. 

Frankfort Mayor Jim Holland said the couple were longtime residents with children and grandchildren living throughout Chicago's south suburbs.

"They were well-known and well-respected in our community," Holland said. "There is a lot of grieving right now."

"Greatest people you'd ever want to know -- they were like second parents to us," said neighbor Larry Arends.

"Just the sweetest couple, so we're going to miss them dearly," Krusemark said.

A great couple found amid devastation of a three-block-long debris field.

"I've been with Frankfort for 22 years and have never seen a scene like that," Piscia said. 

The Red Cross disaster action team and mental health volunteers are on the scene comforting neighbors and family members, as well as providing meals at the Frankfort Methodist Church for neighborhood residents and emergency responders, according to a Red Cross press release.

Authorities reported no other injuries from the blast.

Some neighbors say they smelled natural gas in the air, but a Nicor spokesman says it is still much too early to know what caused the explosion. Nicor is assisting in the investigation, along with Frankfort police, the fire department, and the state fire marshal.

CBS 2's Susan Carlson, The STNG Wire, and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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