A fire destroyed a two-car garage early this morning on Sunnyside Hill, nearly spreading to two wood frame houses on either side of it, according to a press release by the Pullman Fire Department.

Firefighters were dispatched around 12:30 a.m. to the fire on the 100 block of Lancer Lane, where the residents of one house had already evacuated themselves. Pullman police notified the residents of the other house to evacuate.

A crew from Whitman County Rural District 12 assisted in confining the fire, which caused between $15,000 and $20,000 in damage to two cars and both houses, the release indicated. The residents were allowed to reenter the houses after Avista personnel checked electrical connections.

A resident told firefighters one of her children tried to no avail to put out the fire using a garden hose. The cause of the fire is investigation.