The man who was found dead in the rubble of his Lake Zurich home after an explosion this week was identified Friday.
Timothy Toczylowski, 77, was pronounced dead after firefighters extinguished flames at his home Tuesday night in the 23500 block of North Overhill Road, according to the Lake County coroner’s office.
An autopsy determined he suffered from smoke inhalation — “injuries consistent with inhalation of products of combustion,” the coroner’s office said. Toxicology results, including carbon monoxide testing, were still pending Friday.
Neighbors described the sudden explosion rocking the ground. Debris went flying, just missing two boys playing basketball on a nearby driveway.
Ulises Hernandez, who lives two houses down, called Toczylowski “a nice guy,” telling the Chicago Sun-Times he was a kind man who lived alone and kept to himself.
Hernandez’s home surveillance camera captured the moment the explosion nearly injured his son and a neighbor’s child.
“It rocked the whole house,” he said.
The cause of the explosion remains under investigation.
