Emergency services responded to the scene at Whistle Stop Self Storage, located approximately half a mile from the Lowell City Airport, around 4:30 p.m. The victims have been identified as Kevin Lawrence, 62, of Presque Isle, Mich., and Paul Schalk, 68, of Rogers City, Mich.

Lawrence and Schalk were traveling through the Grand Rapids area in a small Vans Aircraft RV-14 when their aircraft went down near Vergennes Street and Lincoln Lake Avenue SE, according to authorities and Lowell City Airport Manager casey Brown.

Sharon Vanamburgh, a witness who lives across from the storage facility, described hearing a loud “boom” and seeing smoke emanating from the roof of the building as it caught fire. She later discovered that her storage unit had been struck by the plane.

“Today I went and walked around to see on the outside, and in doing so, I could see my door and there was no door there,” Vanamburgh recounted. She lost personal belongings, including clothing, shoes, and Christmas presents intended for her grandchildren.

“It’s all your treasures and things from when I was married 53 years and all the goodies that come with it, stuff for the kids, the grandkids,” Vanamburgh said. “There was several things there, but, it can be replaced.” Despite her loss, her thoughts were with the victims of the crash.

“God bless them and I am so sorry that happened,” Vanamburgh added.

Lowell Fire Chief Cory Velzen stated that 13 different area fire departments assisted in extinguishing the blaze,describing the incident as a “complicated situation.”

the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is expected to commence its investigation into the crash on Wednesday. The Federal aviation Administration (FAA) and the Kent County Sheriff’s Office are also continuing their investigations into the cause of the lowell plane crash.