Investigators have yet to determine cause of garage fire that left 10 homeless

Nicole Reilly was playing a game on her computer Monday afternoon when she heard a banging on her window and someone yelling.

"I had no idea what was going on," she said. "Justin looked out the window and said, ‘The house is on fire,’ so we just got out."

The fire, reported at 1:38 p.m., at 33 Pearl St., Batavia, displaced 10 residents and claimed the life of a 10-week-old chihuahua.

Two kittens and a cat were rescued, and while the garage was totally destroyed and the second floor apartment was heavily damaged, the structure is still standing.

However, owner Thomas J. Mazerbo is uncertain of the building's ultimate fate.

Mazerbo, had nothing but praise for the work of city firefighters, the police and Mercy EMS.

"With the response time, I appreciate everything that was done," Mazerbo said. "Everybody (fire, PD and EMS) was here fast. The important thing is nobody was hurt or injured."

The fire started in the garage and police took two people in for questioning. The two men may have been in the garage when the fire started.

The cause of the fire has not been released.

Chief Jim Maxwell said the garage was fully involved when Engine 12 and Ladder 15 arrived on scene, and there were already flames licking the rear of the structure, pushed toward the two-story apartment building by westerly winds.

"Our initial concern was to get some lines on the garage," Maxwell said. "We set up an unmanned master stream. The garage was pretty much written off when we got here, so our main concern was to make sure we didn't lose the house."

The garage and house were covered in asphalt shingles, which is a good fire retardant, Maxwell said, but once ignited, burn hot and fast.

The 10 residents included an elderly woman who was about to move into a single-story flat, Mazerbo said.

"We'll need to hurry up now and get that ready," he said.

Among the first people to report the fire was Jim Lucki, a Batavia resident, whose in-laws live next door. He was driving past the house when he saw the garage fire. He stopped, ran to the house, and alerted the people inside. He tried to get to the second floor, but the smoke was too heavy at that point, he said.

Once all of the residents were accounted for, the ones at the scene turned their attention to the safety of the animals. It wasn't until the fire was nearly out that a cat and two Persian Himalayan kittens, Samson and Sebastian, were rescued.

The deceased puppy was located in the second floor apartment a short time before fire crews went back in service.

Assisting at the scene were the Alexander and Elba volunteer fire departments as well as Emergency Services and the Red Cross.

PHOTOS: Top, Alexander 1st Assistant Chief Marshall Merle carries Sebastian to safety. Second photo, Stacy and Matthew Johnson with Samson, relived that he was rescued. Very bottom photo, fire investigators begin sifting through rubble in the garage in the hope of finding clues on how the fire started.

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