By Tina Sfondeles and Mike Isaacs
The Chicago Sun-Times
SKOKIE, Ill. — A man was hurt when an explosion rocked a vacant two-flat in Skokie Monday morning, briefly shutting down nearby Dempster Street at McCormick Boulevard.
The fire and explosion in a vacant building at 8734 N. Kimball Ave. was reported just after 9 a.m.
The building was being renovated, and no one was currently living there, according to fire officials.
They said the injured man — whose name wasn’t immediately released — is a relative of the property owner and was in the area at the time of the explosion.
A neighbor said he was ready to take a shower when he heard a loud “boom boom” and initially thought there has been a car crash. From his home, he saw a man lying on the sidewalk.
“Then I looked out the window and I saw that the house had blown up,” he said.
Skokie Fire Chief Ralph Czerwinski said the explosion destroyed the front of the building. The cause is under investigation.
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