SLIPPERYROCKTWP — Three classic muscle cars — some of Detroit's best ever — were destroyed late Wednesday night when fire tore through a huge garage on Stoughton Road.

Also burned up was a box-style utility truck used by Robert Steele for his plumbing and heating business.

Damage is estimated at $250,000 in the accidental electrical fire about 10:30 p.m.

It could have been worse. Steele dashed from his home and into the detached garage, which was filling up with flames, and rescued a pickup truck and van.

The property is insured and no one was hurt.

"That's the main thing," Steele said. "What's lost are material things; they can be replaced."

Firefighters battled the blaze for more than two hours and later mourned with Steele over the loss of his valued keepsakes — a 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1, 1967 Mustang convertible and a 1955 Lincoln Capri.

"He just finished redoing those Mustangs,"said Chief Ron Steele of the Slippery Rock Volunteer Fire Company of his cousin. "He collected them over the years and just liked them; one of them belonged to his son."

Robert Steele said he's had the Lincoln for 30 years. The Mach 1 has been in the family for nearly 10 years. He bought the convertible five or six years ago.

"I've been working on the '67 for three years and finally got it running,"he said. "I had just taken it out that day and put gas in it."

Steele and his wife were at their 223 Stoughton Road home when they apparently heard a "popping"noise outside, fire officials said. Mary Steele looked outside and saw flames coming from the area of the garage where her husband parks his work truck.

The four-stall garage, which measured about 60 feet by 80 feet, is just 20 feet from the house.

"Bob ran outside and got his personal pickup and personal van out,"said Ron Steele. "He knew he could only get to those; his service van was already gone and the fire was too close to the cars."

Robert Steele could only watch as the cars went up in flames.

"There's 20 years down the chute."he said. "It's tough but what can you do?"

Steele, who owns his home-based B.L. Boyer Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing, lost one of his service trucks; however, he still has a second work truck.

About 40 firefighters from Slippery Rock, Harrisville and Unionville worked hard to keep the blaze from spreading.

"Our main objective was to save the house,"Ron Steele said.

Chief Mark Lauer of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Department admitted there was little time to spare.

"It got pretty darned close to the house. Luckily, it's a brick house," he said.

The only damage to the house was several melted windows.

Investigators believe the fire was electrical, noting the diesel truck's engine block heater was plugged into an electrical outlet at the time.

"During the fire it popped the main breaker in the house,"Ron Steele said. "That tells us it started at the outlet where the truck was."

Firefighters returned to their stations just before 2 a.m. today.