Local firefighters scrambled to keep hose lines warm Saturday as they battled a vehicle and a garage fire in Lehighton Borough.

A Chevrolet pickup caught fire shortly after 3:30 p.m. on First Street. Lehighton Fire Chief Patrick Mriss said crews were able to put out the fire, but the cause remains under investigation.

Witnesses said the incident snarled traffic for over an hour on one of the borough’s main thoroughfares.

Around three hours later, firefighters were back at it again when a three-story garage went up in flames near the Carbon and East Alley intersection.

As many as 50 to 60 volunteers responded to battle the fire, which was coming out the garage doors by the time crews arrived on the scene.

“It was going full blast, rolling up the exterior to the second and third floors,” Mriss said.

The garage sustained heavy internal damage as crews remained on the scene for over three hours.

Mriss said he will return to the garage this week to continue determination on a cause.

Single-digit temperatures presented the usual challenges for firefighters as they battled freezing lines throughout the night.

“Basically as soon as we started pumping water, it was freezing under our feet,” Mriss said.

“The hose lines were freezing too, but you try to rotate in and out and work with what you have. We tried to keep the hose lines up on the truck in a warm environment so we could get them back in there quicker.”

Mriss credited Lehighton’s mutual aid departments and the public works department for their work during the fire.

Community members also stepped up to the plate, doing what they could to ease the burden on the volunteers.

Many residents brought coffee, hot chocolate and other refreshments to the firefighters during the course of their time at the scene.

“A lot of people showed up and unfortunately, I didn’t get to thank them personally, but we are very appreciative of what they did for us,” Mriss said.

“They didn’t have to be out there, but for them to think of us like that, it really means a lot.”