There was one resident at the 521 Cable Hollow Road house in Russell, Pa., at the time the fire broke out, according to Russell Volunteer Fire Department Lt. Austin Goldthwaite. He was uninjured and able to get himself to safety.

The initial call went out at 12:51 p.m.

“It started in the garage and spread to the house,” Goldthwaite said.

By late afternoon, the garage had burned to the ground. A large part of the house remained standing, but would likely be declared a total loss, Goldthwaite told the Times Observer.

Firefighters battle a Wednesday afternoon blaze at 521 Cable Hollow Road in Russell. The fire reportedly started in the garage and spread to the house. A resident was home at the time of the fire and made it out safely. Nine departments from Warren County and Chautauqua County responded. One firefighter was treated at the scene for a minor injury. Photo by Brian Ferry

Numerous departments from Warren and Chautauqua counties responded to the blaze that sent huge clouds of black smoke into the air.

One firefighter was treated at the scene for a minor injury, Goldthwaite said.

Responding were Russell, Lander, Scandia, North Warren, and Glade volunteer fire departments, and the City of Warren Fire Department; firefighters from Frewsburg, Kiantone, and Busti in New York responded as well.

Firefighters set up portable ponds at the end of the driveway to provide water. Tankers made repeated trips down Cable Hollow Road a little more than half-a-mile to Conewango Creek to refill their tanks, then returned to put that water into the ponds to be pumped to the fire.