Editor's note: The original story contained a factual error which has been corrected.

On the idyllic tree-lined road where they played street hockey, passing the puck among neighborhood kids while filling the block with laughter, two Grosse Pointe Farms brothers left this world far too early Monday morning.

The boys, 9 and 11, died in a massive fire that ripped through their colonial home about an hour before school started — and no one could do anything to help.

Some neighbors heard the boys screaming. Some tried to enter the home to get the brothers out, but their efforts were unsuccessful.

"The first floor was fully engulfed," said Stephen Poloni, public safety director for Grosse Pointe and Grosse Pointe Park.

According to Poloni, the fourth and fifth graders at Richard Elementary in Grosse Pointe Farms were found deceased in an upstairs bedroom. The boys were home alone because the school had a delayed start time of 9:05 a.m. Monday, said neighbors and others, so they had to get ready for school on their own.

Their father was on his first day on the job at the International Academy in Bloomfield Hills, according to a family friend. The mother was also on her way to work.

But sometime just before 8 a.m., the unthinkable happened.

A fire broke out, possibly in the kitchen, officials said. A 911 call was placed at 7:51 a.m. Fire crews arrived in less than five minutes.

But the fire was too fast and too intense.

Within minutes, the couple would tragically lose their happy-go-lucky boys who loved hockey, Comic Con events and playing video games with friends.

“My boys are so devastated (that) these children will not be in their lives. My family and this whole neighborhood will have a huge void without these two boys,” said one neighbor who wished to remain unnamed, noting his children were close with the victims.

According to the neighbor, less than 24 hours before the fire, the 9-year-old victim was at his house playing video games with his children.

“None of us could have ever imagined that when he said ‘Bye’ and went to go home, it would be the last time we would ever see him,” the man said, teary-eyed. “Those wonderful kids were an integral part of this neighborhood. Every neighbor loved these kids. ... They were voracious, happy-go-lucky and so fun to be around. They loved living life."

According to the neighbor, the victims participated in Detroit Comic Con and once won an award. They were avid hockey players who were loved off and on the rink

“It was a senseless tragedy that could have been avoided," the man said. "The mother and father lost their only two boys. They lost their property. They lost everything.”

"It is very devastating," said neighbor Linda Dervan, a retiree who has lived on Fisher Road for 34 years, but never before witnessed a fire on her street.

"Our hearts go out to the family, and especially to the mother," said Dervan, who was awoken by the chaos of the blaze.

"I heard glass breaking. Then I looked out the window and saw a police car," said Dervan. She got dressed and ran outside and witnessed the devastation.

There were three firetrucks on the scene, she said. Everything happened so fast.

News of the fire quickly spread through the close-knit Grosse Pointe communities, where parents took to social media to express condolences and grief.

"All the moms were horrified and shocked, whether they knew the family or not. Nobody could work or focus," said another neighbor who requested anonymity.

"It could have happened to anyone — and that can’t be emphasized enough," the woman stressed, adding: “I am definitely sitting with my son today and formulating a fire escape plan.”

Around the Grosse Pointe Farms neighborhood Monday, some walked with their heads down while neighbors hugged each other. One man left a bouquet near the scene. Two bins were left on a nearby porch for donations for the mother and father.

As of 6:45 p.m., police and fireman were still on the scene.

By 8 p.m., the street was dark, though the front steps of a nearby home glowed with a small candle, placed between two hockey sticks propped outside the front door.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com

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