Grief counselors are on hand at the Catholic high school and middle school in Marshfield following the deaths of two brothers in a plane crash.

Fifteen-year-old James Edwards, 9-year-old Joshua and their dad, James Edwards III, were killed Saturday night when their single-engine plane crashed and burned in Marshfield.

Joshua attended Our Lady of Peace Intermediate School. His brother, James, went to Columbus Catholic High School.

The Edwards family was active in community hockey events. The elder Edwards had served as president of the Marshfield Youth Hockey League and was currently president of the Green Bay Junior Gamblers, a youth hockey organization.

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STORY FROM 11/24/08

The Federal Aviation Administration says it can't completely confirm, but highly believes the plane that crashed in a Marshfield backyard on Saturday night was piloted by 41-year-old James Franklin Edwards, III from Marshfield.

His two sons, 15-year-old James Franklin Edwards, IV and nine-year-old Joshua James Edwards, are also believed to have been on board.

The police chief in Marshfield says the father was the president of the Green Bay Junior Gamblers, a youth hockey organization, and the owner of Marshfield-based Thomas Electric Services, which has offices in Appleton.

Other than that, the investigation is in the early stages, as neighbors try to come to grips with what happened in their own backyard.

"It was just like the sun coming up, it was so bright orange,” says Tyrone Nalock, describing what he saw when he ran outside, after hearing explosions shortly after 11 pm on Saturday night.

"It was just a ball of fire at that time,” says Nalock, a volunteer fire fighter who lives across the street from where the plane crashed. “It was fully engulfed, and I didn't even know it was a plane at that time."

Now the single-engine, six passenger, turbo-prop plane is a charred and mangled mess for investigators to sift through.

"The wreckage will be relocated. We're looking at the engine and the propeller more extensively this afternoon and tomorrow, and following up on records, aircraft records, pilot records to find more information," says Tim Sorenson, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board.

Those records show the plane was leased to James Franklin Edwards of Marshfield. He is believed to have been the pilot, and his sons the two other passengers who died in the crash.

Investigators say the small plane did not have a black box.

"They aren't actually required to,” says Sorenson.

While the investigators search for a cause, the neighbors search for a way to take stock of the tragedy that also could have hit the home of Jeremy and Suzanne Lezotte and their four young children.

Neighbors say they're lucky the rest of the neighborhood escaped harm.

"To me, it's just too close for comfort,” says Nalock. “It’s only 200 feet away from my front door.”

The Lezotte family was not home Monday. Neighbors say they're currently staying with relatives
Their back porch and yard were damaged.