Tinley Park home bursts into flames after driver crashes into garage, runs from scene

TINLEY PARK, Ill. - Authorities were searching for a driver after a car slammed into a garage early Tuesday, setting off a fire that destroying a home in south suburban Tinley Park.

There were no reported injuries and the home was unoccupied when the crash happened about 12:35 a.m. in the 7600 block of West 167th Street, according to Tinley Park Fire Dept. Chief Forest Reeder.

Investigators determined a car left the road about 100 yards east of the home near an S-turn, Reeder said. The car went across a creek, down an embankment and into a yard before crashing into a garage and sparking a fire, he said. Another car parked inside the garage also erupted in flames.

Firefighters extinguished the fire, which had spread to the home and singed the side of a neighboring house, in about 30 minutes, Reeder said.

The first house is expected to be a total loss, Reeder said. The sole occupant of the other home with exterior damage safely evacuated.

Crews also addressed a gas leak at the neighboring house caused by extreme heat, Reeder said.

Authorities searched the home and the surrounding area, but had not located the driver of the crashed car Tuesday morning, he said.