Peoria, IL – A Peoria man was taken to a Springfield burn unit after surviving an explosion that destroyed his south side home.
Steven Schermer was inside the house on 3223 W. Ann St when the blast went off. It happened around 4:30a.m.Scattered debris filled his entire yard, and three of his home’s four walls were blown out.
As he is being treated in Springfield, his neighbors are also recovering from the shock that it happened just yards from their own homes.
“It just exploded!” said Michelle Bennett, “I saw that and I just couldn’t believe it. I just couldn’t believe it that the whole front of the house and the side of the house were gone.”
Bennett lives two doors down from Schermer’s home .
“I’ve been in the house 25 years. He’s always been there,” she explained. However, a frightening scene changed that part of the neighborhood early Monday morning.
“About 4:30[a.m.] I saw a big flicker of light,” she recalled. “There was noise that woke me up.”
An explosion had destroyed Schermer’s house. Another neighbor quickly went in to help him out.
Bennett described what she saw saying, “His whole side was just singed and the house smelled like burnt hair.”
Fire investigators initially looked at natural gas as the possible cause of this explosion, and neighbors said they recently smelled a gas odor in this area.
“It was scary. It was very scary because my son said he was raking leaves and he said he smelled gas and it could’ve been my house,” said Bennet.
“In this case there was also a report of natural gas so that’s one of the things we’re looking at now,” said Brad Pierson, an arson investigator with the Peoria Fire Department.
He said there’s no simple approach to determining the cause.
“We’re also looking at stuff at things inside the house including the piping, the furnace, the water heater, the stove.
Bennett said the whole incident does concern her, especially if gas is to blame.
“I’ve got 2 little space heaters that i use myself and it’s scary. I’m scared now to even use them.”
She added that it’s only brought her neighbors even closer, saying “we all stick together. I mean this circle especially we all stick together.
Ameren Illinois and state agencies are also investigating the explosion. Fire officials said that if you ever think you smell natural gas, call the gas company immediately.