T-L Photo/JOE LOVELL The charred remains of two homes stand along Grant Avenue in Martins Ferry on Tuesday after an early morning fire destroyed them and damaged a third house.

MARTINS FERRY — Three houses were damaged after a fire broke out in Martins Ferry during the early morning hours Tuesday, displacing at least one family and forcing first responders to work in the frigid cold.

The Martins Ferry Volunteer Fire Department dispatched first responders for a basement fire around 2 a.m. Tuesday. When they arrived, they found three neighboring houses on fire. The homes were located at 517 Grant Ave., 515 Grant Ave. and 519 Grant Ave. The fire started at 517 Grant Ave., which was between the other two.

The cause of the fire remained unknown Tuesday evening, according to Fire Chief II Justin Smith, and the blaze is under investigation.

Bridgeport Fire Department, Bellaire Volunteer Fire Department and Colerain Volunteer Fire Department assisted in battling the blaze.

The house where the fire started was vacant, Smith said. The two neighboring houses were occupied, but Smith said everyone got out safely. It was unclear Tuesday evening whether two cats that lived in the home closest to the Dollar Tree store managed to escape or if they died as a result of the smoke and flames.

The fire departments were on scene until a little after 6 a.m., when Martins Ferry firefighters returned to their stations for a break from the cold. Later In the morning, Martins Ferry VFDreturned to douse a rekindle, which Smith said he expected.

“We were just kind of anticipating just going back to the station and thawing out a little bit, because everybody was frozen, and then going back after a few hours of break, if we had to, and we did have to go back,” Smith said.

Smith said when he got to the scene, fire was coming out of every window of the basement and every window of the first floor of the center house. Smith added that he believes the two houses closest to the Dollar Tree are a total loss.

He described fighting fires in extremely cold weather as “absolutely miserable” and said there is no other way to put it. Temperatures across Belmont County dipped below zero late Monday and into Tuesday morning. The forecast called for subzero temperatures again late Tuesday and early today.

Smith said the department has thermal engine cameras and, at one point, one of those displayed a reading of negative 25 degrees outside, Smith said.

The cold temperatures can affect a fire department’s water supply and hoses, because according to Smith as soon as someone shuts a hose line down, it freezes. So on Tuesday morning, the firefighters had to constantly keep flowing water through the fire trucks’ hose lines, to prevent them from freezing.

Smith thanked the neighboring agencies for their aid, because he said without them the MFVFD wouldn’t have had the manpower to fight the spreading fire due to the cold and having to give firefighters breaks to warm up in their trucks. The departments took turns working to extinguish the fire and stepping away to get warm.