Grosse Pointe boys killed in house fire while getting ready for school

Two boys in Grosse Pointe were killed Monday morning while getting ready for school as their dad started a new job and mom stepped away for an errand.

The fire happened at a home near Fisher Road and Goethe Street, which is near Mack Avenue and Moran. 

A neighbor told FOX 2 that their father left the home to start a new job and mom had stepped away to briefly run an errand as the boys got ready for school. That's when the boys, 9 and 11, were trapped inside the burning home.

"Around 7:50 I started to see what looked like fog or smoke up the street. When I looked over, there was a lot of screaming," neighbor Suzanne Hemoveich said. 

The two boys were trapped inside and a Good Samaritan tried to help but it was too late.

"There's a lot of screaming. She had just come back. Some guy in a pickup truck stopped in the middle of the road. (He) broke open the windows, broke open the door. When that happened, there was this intense orange flame," said one neighbor.

Grosse Pointe Director of Public Safety Stephen Poloni said the main floor of the home was fully engulfed when they arrived.

"Firefighters, sometime later, found two deceased we believe young males in the upper bedroom," said Poloni

The cause of the fire is still not known but investigators believe it may have started in the kitchen. 

The boys' father returned home after learning the tragic news and neighbors wonder how they'll recover.

"Then I saw the poor parents. They were devastated, they were crying, people were walking with them putting blankets on them," said another neighbor. "Hug your kids and pray. How do parents come back from that?"

The boys' names have not been released.