An explosion caused a raging fire Saturday evening in west suburban Cicero.

Cicero Fire Chief Jeff Penzkofer said investigators suspect a gas leak caused the explosion around 5 p.m. in a two-story home in the 2200 block of Central Avenue.

No one was home when the explosion happened.

The entire front of the building was blown out, and some of the bricks from that building landed all the way across the street. At least two neighboring buildings also were damaged in the blast.

"Windows across the street got blown out. There's I-beams that got blown out, so it's indicating of a gas explosion," Penzkofer said.

The explosion caused a large fire in the building where it started, with flames rising high over the roof of surrounding structures.

Firefighters were concerned the flames could spread to buildings on the north and south sides.

"They had the other residents in the neighborhood evacuate," neighbor Jeff Scott said.

Penzkofer said six people lived in the building where the explosion happened, and were at a family wedding at the time.

The chief said firefighters would be at the scene for several hours on Saturday night doing cleanup.

An investigation into the cause of the fire won't begin until Sunday morning.