OBSERVER Photo by Mary Heyl A truck caught fire at 31 Pennsylvania Ave. in the city of Dunkirk Monday. afternoon.

OBSERVER Staff Report

A Monday afternoon fire in the city of Dunkirk destroyed a pickup truck and heavily damaged a garage.

The Dunkirk Fire Department was dispatched to a report of a vehicle fire next to a garage at 31 Pennsylvania Ave at 4:58 p.m., according to a press release. The truck was found fully involved in fire and a detached garage had fire advancing throughout the structure. Fire crews quickly deployed hose lines to extinguish the rapidly advancing blaze.

The vehicle was totally destroyed, while the structure sustained considerable fire, smoke and water damage. One firefighter was transported to Brooks Memorial Hospital with a heat-related illness and has been discharged.

Firefighters were on scene for one and a half hours. The cause of the fire was a mechanical malfunction in the engine compartment of the vehicle.

During the fire, there were three separate calls for emergency medical services in the city, which were handled by Dunkirk Fire Department ambulances with an assist at one of the calls by Chautauqua County EMS.