A renter at Highland Self Storage, in Salt Lake City, Utah accidentally started a fire at the facility on Dec. 29, when he spilled the gasoline he was draining from his motorcycle near a portable heater, which ignited the fuel. The fire quickly got out of control, spreading to wood trusses, engulfing the man's truck, and then igniting other units. The man ran to tell Highland's manager and staff members, but by then there was nothing they could do. Firefighters quickly arrived to combat the two-alarm fire, which damaged approximately 20 self-storage units.
Except for the man who started the fire, who had a gash on his head, no one was injured. Several tenants lost items of value from their units, however.
The renter who started the fire was in violation of his rental agreement, which states that renters agree not to store gasoline or other dangerous materials in their units. If a tenant violates the agreement, Highland's normal policy is to ask the tenant to remove the material. If they refuse, their storage contract is terminated. In this case, though, managers were not aware of the gasoline in the man's unit. Renters may not always think of gasoline inside vehicles such as motorcycles, so it is advisable, when a renter is about to sign such an agreement, to inquire about vehicles or machines that could contain gasoline inside a fuel tank.
Reactions to the fire have been pouring into online forums used by the self-storage industry, expressing shock at the combination of a renter doing vehicle repairs on site or using a space heater in a unit. Most posters feel that either practice is extremely inadvisable and the combination of the two, particularly so. One poster, reacting with compassion to Highland's manager's frustration at not having known that gasoline was stored in the unit, remarked, "As much as I would like to say that I see all and know all that goes on here, my super powers just are not that great!" No matter how diligent managers are, she explained, accidents sometimes still happen.
Because accidents occasionally happen, it is important that self-storage facilities have an emergency plan in place. Highland Self Storage's emergency plan may not have stopped the fire from taking place, but it did ensure the safety of staff and tenants, none of whom were physically injured by the fire. A self-storage emergency plan should include fire-safety training for staff members, including training on how to spot potential fire hazards, what exit to use in case of an emergency, calling the fire department, how to document emergency events afterward, how to ensure that people and property on-site are well protected, and staying calm. The emergency plan should include a checklist for what to do in case of an emergency. Staff members should be instructed to call the fire department whenever there is a fire, even if the fire appears to be small. Fires can spread and get out of control quickly.
After a fire, self-storage facility managers should limit access to the facility until firefighters have given an "all clear" signal and have communicated to the manager that the facility is safe. The next steps should include contacting the insurance company, holding off on any clean up procedures until photos have been taken to provide documentation of the event to the insurance company, and contacting tenants to advise them of the event and how it might affect them.
Self-storage facility managers may wish to print out the facility's emergency plans and procedures and distribute the plan to tenants, reiterating the rental agreement's prohibitions on storing hazardous materials, smoking on site, using portable heaters, conducting vehicle repairs, etc.