A house on Bloomington, Illinois' far western edge was leveled just before midnight Tuesday when an explosion tore through the home, sending eight people to the hospital and flattening the structure before firefighters could even get water on it.

The blast struck a home on Old Peoria Court, near the Rivian Motorway on the city's outskirts, according to WGLT, Illinois State University's public radio station. The Danvers Fire Protection District, the lead responding agency, said the home was destroyed and at least five vehicles parked nearby were also wrecked in the blast. Two neighboring houses caught fire in the aftermath, though crews managed to keep the damage to one confined to its garage.

Hours-long fight to save neighbors' homes

"We're trying to save that house and limit the damage. Fortunately, we were able to keep most of the damage to the garage." — Danvers Fire Chief Glenn Rosecrans

Crews from Carlock, Dale Township, Stanford, Normal, Bloomington and Bloomington Township fire departments all responded to help battle the flames, a mutual-aid effort that stretched into the early morning hours. No deaths were reported, and the eight people hospitalized had not had the extent of their injuries disclosed by Wednesday afternoon.

The family who lived in the home, identified locally as the Hoefers, are active members of East White Oak Bible Church, according to Illinois Public Media's reporting. "They are beloved," Pastor Traig Whittaker said. "We stand ready to support them in whatever ways may be necessary as they recover."

What sparked the explosion remains under investigation. The Illinois State Fire Marshal's office was called to the scene, and Nicor Gas crews responded and shut off service to the property as investigators work to pin down a cause. Firefighters reported an unusual flame persisting in the rubble hours after the initial blast — behavior more consistent with methane than typical natural gas, according to WGLT, though officials have not confirmed a gas leak as the trigger. Authorities said the incident appears unrelated to a separate gas-odor call reported elsewhere in northern McLean County the same day.

The investigation into the explosion's cause is ongoing, and officials have not said when they expect to release findings. The scale of destruction — a home reduced to rubble and a row of vehicles destroyed in an instant — has rattled the quiet subdivision, where neighbors spent Wednesday surveying the wreckage and taking stock of how close the blast came to spreading further.