A garage fire in Mercer Tuesday night may have cost the property owners more than $60,000.

Owners Richard and Debbie Gault of 230 E. South St., were not home at the time of the fire, about 11 p.m., said Mercer East End Fire Chief Bill Finley Jr. and one of the Gaults' neighbors.

The neighbor, who lives in the 400 block of South Otter Street, said she was awakened by a horn at about 11 p.m. and when she looked out the window, she saw the garage behind the Gaults' house ablaze. Wind initially seemed to push the flames toward her home, so she and her family prepared to leave quickly, just in case.

"When you have kids, a dog, a cat and a guinea pig, well anytime a fire's that close to your house, you have to take precautions," said the neighbor, who did not wish to be identified.

The wind then began blowing the flames away from her home, and firefighters controlled the blaze in about 30 minutes, Finley said.