Fire engulfs Yuba garage

An Olivehurst family was forced from its house Saturday evening after a fire destroyed the garage and caused smoke damage inside.

Fourteen firefighters from Olivehurst and Wheatland arrived to the 4300 block of Martel Drive about 6 p.m. to find the garage engulfed in flames, said Capt. Wade Harrison of the Olivehurst Fire Department.

Fire crews put out the blaze in about a half-hour, but the garage was declared a total loss.

Harrison, who said the blaze began when something ignited, possibly a cigarette, in a garbage can inside the garage, estimated the structural damage at $50,000.

Motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles stored inside were destroyed, and a Ford pickup parked outside also was damaged.

The flames did not spread into the living quarters but damaged its electrical and natural-gas systems, according to the Fire Department.