Neighbors shaken after fatal home explosion

ENERGY, Ill. (KBSI) – Local authorities say that a deadly home explosion left two injured and one dead.

The Williamson County sheriff’s Office says they are investigating after a large number of calls came in on Tuesday August 4, 2026, about a large boom or blast. Once on scene deputies found a large blast radius/a home explosion had taken place around 7:08 pm.

Neighbors say they felt the blast and many houses received damage and windows were blown out, the sheriff’s department reporting one fatality and two others injured.

“It felt like an earthquake” says neighbor Shawn Jackson. “At first, it rattled the entire house, and then I could see through my window there’s a massive flame ball, and I immediately went to my front door because it had busted the front door wide open,” 

Johnson and other neighbors share that they deeply saddened and shook-up after the event.

“The old man that passed away he was a very kind man. He was he was always out there taking care of his yard. Always. So, very unfortunate what happened” says Johnson. “A lot of us here have pets. My cats, they took off running. They were hiding for a while. But, yeah, it was, it was definitely a pretty frightening experience in the moment.”

The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office has not yet released the cause of the large radius blast.