Larry Towers had put his two young sons in their bunks for an afternoon nap and was working in his garage when a neighbor noticed smoke coming from the boys' bedroom.
The neighbor banged on the front door of the Lansing home but the boys could not be reached in time, fire officials said.
Jeremiah Towers, 5, and Joshua Towers, 2, died of burns and smoke inhalation, the officials said. They were pronounced dead just after 4 p.m. Monday at St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers in nearby Hammond.
"They were the greatest angels anyone could have," their grandfather, Clint Towers, said.
"This is just devastating what happened here. But we're trying to hold on, we have to trust in the Lord".
Towers said the boys' mother, Areah Brown Towers, is a reservist who had shipped out to Iraq about 30 days ago.
The Red Cross has contacted her, and the family expects her home within a day or so, Towers said.
Towers said Jeremiah and Joshua had spent Christmas with him and he had given them each guitars. "They just loved playing it together".
The cause of the fire is under investigation. It broke out just after 3 p.m. in an upstairs bedroom of the home and was confined to that room, Lansing Fire Chief Dan Gregorovic said.
A firefighter was treated and released from a hospital after suffering minor smoke inhalation, Gregorovic said.
-- Dave Pierini, WGN-TV
Chicago Tribune
