LIVERMORE FALLS – Windy conditions Wednesday night hampered the work of firefighters as they responded to a structure fire at 18 Gilbert St., Fire Chief Ken Jones said.

The initial call came in at 11:35 p.m. for a garage fire, but when firefighters arrived they found a ranch home with an attached one-car garage engulfed, he said.

The homeowner, Robert Martin Jr., was in Florida and is on his way home, Jones said. There was no one at home at the time of the fire. He was not sure who initially called in the fire.

Fire Marshal Chris Stanford was called in Thursday morning to investigate the cause due to the magnitude of the fire with no apparent origin, he said.

The house was destroyed, he said, along with the attached garage and a pickup truck that was in the garage. A 24-by-50-foot building located on the same side of the property as the garage, but 30-to-40 feet away, contained five older model cars from the 1960s and 1970s, he said.

This building was exposed to the fire and did catch, he said, but firefighters were able to contain it. There is some damage to the vehicles, he said.

On the other side of the house, there was a Wheeler pulp truck and a Chevy Suburban. The Suburban, he said, was totaled and the pulp truck received some damage.

The Livermore and Jay fire departments also responded to the fire. For a time it was believed the house across the street had caught on fire. At that point, Wilton, Farmington and Leeds departments were called in for mutual aid, he said, but it turned out the house was not burning.

The chief estimated the market cost of the home at about 130,000, but was not sure of its replacement cost.