Crews responded to a house explosion Thursday evening in rural Whiteside County. Calls started being received by dispatch around 5:40 pm.
The explosion impacted a house along Kruger Road between Morrison and Fulton. At the scene, crews found a large debris field from the explosion and a fire. It took around 20 minutes to bring the fire under control, officials said. No one was inside the building when it exploded. According to Whiteside County Sheriff John Booker, the explosion was set off by the building’s HVAC system.
“With the cooler weather coming on, if your furnaces have been off, have your furnace inspected. Same with wood burners, chimney’s cleaned, check your fire alarms. All of that,” Morrison Assistant Fire Chief Brian Johnson said.
The house collapsed into the basement, requiring the help of an excavator to bring debris out of the ground. No civilians or firefighters were injured in the explosion.
No further information is available at this time.
