Police Still Investigating 'Suspicious' Explosions at Oak Lawn Home

The Oak Lawn Police Department is still investigating the source of a mysterious explosion that occurred in the early morning hours of Dec. 2.  

As Oak Lawn Patch reported at the time, two loud explosions were heard coming from a home on the 9900 block of Merrimac Avenue at about 5:23 a.m. When emergency crews arrived at the home, the front porch was fully engulfed in flames, Oak Lawn Fire Chief George Sheets said at the time. 

Neighbors reported hearing two loud pops immdiately after each other. 

According to the police report from the incident, the homeowner had just left for work when the explosions occurred. 

He was at the intersection of 99th and Southwest Highway, just down the block from the home, when he heard the explosions, police said. 

He turned his car around and saw that it was in fact his house that was now in flames. He was sitting in his car across the street from the home when officers arrived on the scene. He informed them that he lived alone and no one else was in the house, police said. 

He also gave police a description of a car he saw driving down the street near the time of the incident, police said. 

Fire personnel on the scene told officers that the explosion appeared suspicious and requested that a case report be generated, police said. 

Oak Lawn Police Division Chief Michael Kaufmann reported on Friday afternoon that there have been no additional developments in the case to report, and investigators are waiting on lab test results. 

The Oak Lawn Fire Department has not yet released the official cause of the explosions.