The family members are expected to make a full recovery after suffering burns in the explosion
Credit: WMBD News/Youtube
NEED TO KNOW
- A pair of parents and six children survived a house explosion and fire in Bloomington, Illinois
- The parents and at least four of the children sustained significant burns
- Investigators are working to determine the cause of the explosion, which also damaged nearby properties
Eight members of an Illinois family of 10 are recovering after their house exploded and caught fire.
According to reports from WGN-TV, 25News Now and CIProud, firefighters with the Danvers Fire Protection District were called to a home on Old Peoria Court in the city of Bloomington just before 12 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Aug. 25, for a report of an explosion and a house fire.
Officials also received several 911 calls reporting that multiple victims had been burned and injured.
When firefighters arrived at the scene, they found a house engulfed in flames. The blaze had also spread to an adjacent house, as well as to several nearby vehicles parked between the two properties.
Eight people were taken to a local hospital.
Danvers Fire Chief Glenn Rosecrans told 25News Now that the adjacent house on the other side of the property was shielded from the radiant heat by a fence, and that the property only sustained some exterior heat damage.
Firefighters brought the explosion-related fires under control by around 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 26, according to Rosecrans. However, first responders continued to work on a pipe in the basement of the destroyed home that was still burning.
Local utility companies then disconnected the natural gas and electricity lines in the area.
Speaking with 25News Now and CIProud, family and neighbors identified the family injured in the explosion as Gretchen and John Hoefer, who are parents to eight children — seven of whom were at home when the blaze broke out.
The mother and father are both hospitalized with major burns, and at least four of their children sustained significant burns, neighbors told CIProud. One child, who was outside when the incident occurred, was uninjured.
The couple’s eldest child no longer lives at home, and the family’s neighbors said he returned home from basic training to assist with their recoveries.
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John’s parents, Richard and Mary Lu Hoefer, told 25News Now that they received a call about the explosion about three hours after it happened.
“We got a call about three o’clock that Wednesday morning… We had just been here the couple days before. I texted with Gretchen then, and 15 minutes later I guess this happened. It was a shock,” Richard recalled.
Richard said John, Gretchen and their children are expected to make a full recovery from their injuries.
“The first miracle of God when you look at this site is that nobody died. That’s the protection of God,” the grandfather said. “And then the fact that all of our family members — there’s eight in the hospital — all of them are projected to make a full recovery.”
CIProud reported that the family’s church, East White Oak Bible Church, held a special prayer session on Sunday, Aug. 30, and plans to support the family long-term during their recovery.
Ashley McAfee, the Hoefer family’s neighbor, shared with CIProud that although her family was uninjured in the explosion, her house was destroyed. The local community has also rallied around McAfee’s family and is collecting donations of clothes and meals.
Investigators with the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s office responded to the scene of the incident, along with the McLean County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, McLean County Emergency Management Agency, Illinois EPA, Nicor Gas and others, according to 25News Now.
Officials have not yet shared what caused the explosion.
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