STEUBENVILLE — City firefighters responded to a garage fire at 1218 Wellesely Ave. Rear early Tuesday and found the intense heat had caused damage to two adjacent block garages and a garage apartment across the alley.

Assistant Fire Chief Chris Allen said the initial call came at 2:56 a.m. Tuesday.

“When we arrived we found the garages at 1221 Wellesley Ave. Rear and 1213 Wellesley Ave. Rear were also on fire. But because they were block garages, the damage was limited to the eaves. The intense heat also melted the vinyl siding on the garage apartment across the alley at 1209 Oak Grove Ave.,” said Allen.

“The garage at 1218 Wellesley Ave. was a total loss and the incident has been turned over to our fire investigators,” noted Allen.

“A power pole near the garage was also on fire when we arrived and the lines were down on the ground. But a transformer had blown and the lines weren’t live. A crew from American Electric Power was on the scene Tuesday morning to replace their pole and repair the damaged lines,” continued Allen.

“We were there for about two hours and four off-duty firefighters were called to assist,” Allen added.