Push for natural gas detectors grows in Illinois a year after Oak Park explosion

OAK PARK, Ill. - A year has passed since a massive explosion in Oak Park leveled an apartment building, claiming the life of one man and displacing 12 residents. In response, there is a growing push to install natural gas detectors in every home across Illinois.

Proponents argue that the detectors are affordable, easy to install, and potentially life-saving.

"It will save lives. It prevents a disaster from happening," said State Representative Camille Lilly of Oak Park.

On Monday, the Democratic lawmaker hosted a free educational event for seniors in Oak Park, distributing natural gas detectors that provide crucial early warnings of gas leaks.

"Because natural gas is colorless and odorless, it's hard to detect," explained Marc Adams, whose company, Denova Detect of Lisle, manufactures natural gas detectors. "These devices, which can alarm and alert faster, will give residents more time to detect gas and escape."

Monday’s event came nearly a year after a natural gas explosion in an Oak Park apartment building killed a 64-year-old man and displaced 12 residents. Over the past five years, Illinois has seen 28 natural gas explosions resulting in 12 deaths.

These incidents have prompted Representative Lilly to sponsor legislation, currently pending in Springfield, that would allow municipalities to require natural gas detectors in homes and buildings, similar to carbon monoxide and smoke detectors.

"It's giving the municipalities the latitude to do as they see fit in their particular village, city, neighborhood," Lilly said.

Lawmakers in Springfield are also considering state funding options to cover the cost of natural gas detectors or requiring utility companies to partially fund these devices.

The issue hits close to home for Oak Park's Katie Moody, whose father, Robert Mangus, died three years ago when the family’s vacation home in Michigan was destroyed by an explosion.

"If we had an alarm in our family home, my dad would probably still be here today," Moody said. "I don't want any other families to experience what my family experienced. It is just absolutely tragic, and it doesn't need to happen."

Natural gas detectors are already mandatory in Maine and New York City, a movement safety advocates believe should be embraced in cold-weather states like Illinois.