"jmcquown" > wrote in message
>>>
> My parents have an electric garage but you can still open it manually.
> How
> odd that you have to have electricity to pull the door up.

Not odd at all. The release is on the inside. From the outside you need
electric. If it could be released from the outside, you'd have no security.
The op has a detached garage and the alternate entry door was blocked.
While that is not very smart, I've done that myself in the past.