CHICORA — A junk car was burned by fire early this morning. Minutes later and close by, flames tore through a garage on Kittanning Street.

The fires could be the work of an arsonist, authorities said.

State police will investigate both blazes, said Capt. Rick Craig of the Chicora Volunteer Fire Department.

The first fire — a bit too close for comfort for the Chicora fire department — was discovered at 3:18 a.m. in the back of the fire station.

"It was a junk car," Craig said, "that we were using for vehicle extrication training."

Just six minutes later, the Butler County Communications Center got another call for a fire in the borough. This time it was a block away from the first fire in a garage on Kittanning Street, near Route 68.

A neighbor spotted the flames at 3:24 a.m. and called 911.

"It was fully involved when we got there," Craig said of the small, wooden garage that is unattached to a vacant house.

About 25 firefighters from Chicora, Petrolia and East Butler extinguished the flames. The fire was out quickly but not in time to save the garage, owned by the Double family.

The siding of two other nearby homes had heat damage.

There was no vehicle in the single-stall garage and little if any property inside, Craig said. Damage to the garage is estimated at $20,000, fire officials said.

Investigators suspect the fire could have been intentionally set, in part, because there are no utilities hooked up to the garage. The state police fire marshal's office has been called to investigate.

State police already are investigating the junk car that was set on fire behind the fire department, Craig said.