GALION — A passerby alerted the residents at 5781 Ohio 19 near Galion of a fire in their garage on Tuesday morning.

According to Galion Fire Chief Phil Jackson, the call came in about the fire at 11:39 a.m.

“The fire appeared to start in the garage but we are still investigating the cause,” said Jackson.

Jackson said the homeowner, Barney Jaeger, had used a rototiller and put it away in the garage moments before the fire started.

“We don’t know if something got hot from the rototiller or it was gasoline or something else. There are so many things in a garage to look at in determining the cause of the fire,” said Jackson.

Jackson said Barney Jaeger and his wife, Carol, were unharmed from the fire and made it out of the home safely.

“There is about $60,000 to $70,000 worth of damage to the house and about $30,000 for the contents,” said Jackson.

Jackson said Bucyrus and Jefferson Township Firefighters assisted at the scene while Crestline firefighters manned the city of Galion while his firefighters were at the scene until a little before 3 p.m.

No firefighters were injured while fighting the blaze.