One Portsmouth woman says she's fortunate and very thankful she returned home just in time Wednesday before a garage fire spread to her attached house. 

"I'm very thankful I came home when I did," said Erin McGee, daughter of homeowners, Patrick and Maureen McGee. 

Erin arrived around 11:30 a.m. at 270 Turnpike Ave. to find her house filled with smoke and flames inside the garage. She quickly called 911. 

"It was perfect timing and perfect it was inside the garage and not the house," she said. McGee talks more about what she saw in the video at right. 

Her mother also arrived at the house a short time later unaware of the fire. 

Portsmouth firefighters quickly extinguished the flames in the garage. The cause of the fire remains under investigation at this time. 

"The fire appears to have been burning for quite some time," said Capt. Michael O'Brien. "It seems to have been smoldering for hours...It's pretty certain it was accidental." 

No injuries were reported. The house sustained no major damage, but the garage sustained structural damage. 

Only a cat, named Brownie, and a dog, a husky-golden retriever mix named Maggie, were home at the time of the fire. Both animals were uninjured. The cat is still believed to be hiding in the basement. 

Portsmouth firefighters remained on scene for at least an hour to clear the house of smoke and return air-quality levels to normal.

Portsmouth police directed traffic during the response, which occurred not far from the high school. A small section of Turnpike Avenue was temporarily shut down to one lane around noon.

Personnel from the Naval Station Newport Fire Department manned the Portsmouth station during the response.