MERCER COUNTY - Two people are dead and a home's destroyed following an explosion late Thursday afternoon.
Multiple departments worked to put out the blaze on North 200th Street, just northeast of Aledo, Illinois at around 4:00 p.m. The home was located near the Mercer County Airport and 120th Avenue.
Once the fire was out, first responders found two bodies inside. As late as 9 o'clock, crews were still on the scene.
"Part of the problem is the roof on the building was metal," Mercer County Sheriff Tom Thompson said. "It was holding a lot of the heat and a lot of the fire in, so that's why the fire department's been on the scene for so long."
Traffic had been shut down on 200th Street for nearly 5 hours. No word yet on a possible cause of the explosion. Family and friends were seen leaving the scene around 7 p.m.