Garage fire reported in Alexander

A garage is reportedly on fire in the Village of Alexander at 10635 Main St.

Alexander Fire and Town of Batavia have been dispatched.

The original alarm reported both house and garage on fire, but now dispatch says it's just the garage and the house has been evacuated.

The Alexander chief has requested a second alarm.

UPDATE 11:11 p.m.: Darien is requested to send a tanker to the scene and an engine to stand by at the Alexander Fire Hall. Bethany has also been dispatched. 

UPDATE 11:14 p.m.: Route 98 is being shut down.

UPDATE 11:15 p.m.: There is a report of pesticides in the garage.

UPDATE 11:16 p.m.: "103 to 104, we've got exposure to both houses. We need to protect them."

UPDATE 11:28 p.m.: Personnel on scene report that there is heat damage to a house. He reports that the resident was working on a car in the garage with a space heater going. He went inside, came back outside and found the garage on fire.

UPDATE 11:32 p.m.: Reader Jon Dayton just sent in the picture now at the top of this post. He reports, "I was closing up my shop to go inside and saw flames rising above the  buildings on the East side of the Village of Alexander at about 10 minutes after 11. By 11:15 Alexander firemen had responded to a fully involved garage fire on Main Street."

UPDATE: Sheriff's Office reports the garage was owned by Paul Thomas Pilc, III. Pilc had been working in the garage, cleaning up his truck, because he had a meeting at work on Friday morning. He took a break and went in the house to use the bathroom and grab a bite to eat. At 11:03 p.m., his son told him the garage was on fire. When Pilc looked, there were flames coming from the back of the garage. Pile got his family safely out of the house and moved his car away from the garage. Pilc said he was using a kerosene heater that belonged to his brother's friend. He said it had seemed to be working fine. An investigation by Alexander Fire found nothing suspicious about the origins of the fire and concluded the likely cause was the heater. New York DEC was notified because Pilc's work truck contained pesticides.

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