Elgin homeowner still hospitalized after house explodes
A homeowner was injured and a dog is missing after what appears to be a natural gas explosion Monday night in Elgin.
Homeowner Tim Walkup, 57, was in his house in the 1100 block of Morningside Drive when the explosion took place at about 9:45 p.m., next door neighbor Tom Walton said Tuesday.
One of Walkup's twin cocker spaniels is missing; the other was found wandering through a nearby wooded area, his fur singed but otherwise unharmed, Walton said.
Walkup was admitted to the intensive care unit at Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin, said Elgin Fire Battalion Chief Terence M. Bruce. Hospital officials declined to give Walkup's condition Tuesday.
The explosion blew out walls and windows, and it caused the roof to lift upward. Cracks below the roof were visible all alongside the house.
Walton said neighbors were hesitant to enter the house because of the strong smell of natural gas. Walton said he approached the front entrance and heard Walkup call for his dogs inside the dark, smoke-filled house.
"Neighbors said the dogs were outside so I told him to come out," he said. "He came out and we dragged him to the front lawn. He had a cut on his head and he was disoriented, in shock."
Walkup was sitting in a lawn chair wrapped in a blanket when firefighters arrived three minutes after the 911 call was placed, Bruce said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, he said.
"He lit the furnace for first time (this season) and he went to bed, then there was an explosion," Bruce said. "It seems to indicate that's what the cause was."
The fire was under control in 10 minutes, and Nicor shut off the gas, he said.
Fire officials estimated the damage at about $150,000. Walkup has lived there for about a decade and extensively renovated the house, Walton said.
Walkup was lucky the roof didn't collapse on him after a wall next to his bed was blown out, Bruce said.
People should inspect their heating units before turning them on for the season, he said.
"Some of the older units, the safeties might malfunction ... even with the new units."