CATO -- Firefighters put out a small fire at Cato Hardware in only 10 minutes Tuesday night using the store's own fire extinguisher, but called on help to make sure they got it all.

Cato's firefighters had just returned from another emergency when they heard the call about flames coming from the back of the store, right down the street from their station.

Once they got there, it only took 10 minutes to knock down the fire, said Cato Fire Chief Larry Wallace.

"It looked a lot worse than it was," he said.

The damage was mostly contained to the back of the store, Wallace said.

There was heavy smoke damage and some fire damage to a back utility room, where the fire could have originated, Wallace said. The two apartments above the store had some smoke damage but no fire damage. All of the tenants got out safely, Wallace said.

Marian Bramble has owned the building with her husband since the 1950s.

Her sons now own the hardware store, where she used to have her office as Ira town clerk.

Damage to the building wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.

The wall around the windows in the back room is pretty charred, she said, but that's about it.

"We're very lucky the tenants were home and smelled smoke," Bramble said. "If no one had been here and with the fire starting in the back, who knows what could have happened."

Several other departments from the area, including Ira, Weedsport and Victory, also responded.

Firefighters used Weedsport's ladder truck to check out the roof for fire damage.

"It's better to have them and not need them," Wallace said.

Staff writer Liz Hacken can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 267 or elizabeth.hacken@lee.net