SCHOENCHEN — Ellis County Rural Fire responded to a structure fire in Schoenchen on Monday afternoon.

Ellis County Rural Fire Chief Dick Klaus said a blaze at a garage at 207 Church, owned by Earl Gottschalk, began approximately 4:15 p.m.

“The garage was not a total loss, about $5,000 in damage,” Klaus said.

It was Klaus, a Schoenchen resident, who actually reported the fire.

“I was getting ready to go to the (Ellis) County Commission meeting and looked over and saw it,” he said. “(Earl) was in his house and didn’t even know it.”