t was one of my first shifts as a new captain. I remember it well. We caught a call around midnight and arrived at the mouth of the driveway. From there, we could smell the fire and see the flames pouring from an open door at the back of the self-storage facility.”

It may sound like the beginning of one of his books, but Thad Diaz, a former firefighter who has since become a prolific author of Tampa, Fla.-based detective novels, is not weaving his latest tale. He’s recounting a self-storage fire that he helped put out during his 25 years serving with the Hillsborough County Fire Department.

“We laid a line from the road, had the next-in engine lay from the nearest plug, and then we called a second alarm,” continues Diaz. “All of our units carry K-12 saws, and we called for them to crack open storage doors on either side of the fire. Once inside, they attacked the flames with a large diameter hose. We established a fast water supply and put a good stop on it.”

Diaz says that the fire had been caused by people living in one of the units and overloading the electrical system.

While this type of situation is not normally described with the literary flair of a novelist, they have become all too common in self-storage. But illegal live-ins are just one potential cause of self-storage fires, which seem to be occurring with much more regularity and are posing a big problem to owners and the tenants who put their trust in them.

There are no hard and fast facts about the number of self-storage facility fires each year, as they are included within the National Fire Protection Association’s report along with all other non-residential structure fires. In 2022, the most current published report, there were 140,000 of these types of fires. However, the idea that self-storage fires are happening with more frequency doesn’t seem like an exaggeration.

Let’s look at some fires that have happened within the last year and a half (these are just the headline-grabbing ones). Unfortunately, most of these stories end with the same statement, “the fire remains under investigation,” and the anticipated follow-up never comes. While there’s not always a definitive answer, with a little sleuthing and numerous phone calls, here’s what was uncovered.

June 5, 2024: Storage Depot, Lebanon, Ore. Fifty-plus units are destroyed in an early morning fire. The cause: A man using a torch to smoke marijuana oil in his storage unit tips the torch, igniting items in his unit. The fire spreads to 50 more, destroying them all.

June 4, 2024: StorQuest Self-Storage, Arvada, Colo. A fire destroys 70 units and burns so intensely on the second floor that the roof collapses. Two firefighters are injured. The cause was undetermined.

May 20, 2024: Storage Rentals of America, Baton Rouge, La. A fire leaves nearly half of the units in the building damaged. Two firefighters are sent to a local hospital. The cause was arson.

May 6, 2024: Safeguard Self Storage, Plainview, N.Y. A fire breaks out on the fourth floor of the facility causing extensive damage. Faulty workmanship conducted on the building’s solar panels is suspected as the cause.

April 29, 2024: Extra Space Storage, Fremont, Calif. Heavy fire burns through the roof of the two-story facility destroying multiple units. The cause was an illegal live-in improperly using a small cooker in his unit.

Feb. 8, 2024: CubeSmart, Spring, Texas. More than 100 firefighters showed up to battle the facility fire, which burned for over 12 hours and left 25 percent of the facility in ruins, sending two firefighters to the hospital. The cause was undetermined.

Jan. 17, 2024: County Line Self-Storage, Greenwood, Ind. A blaze breaks out, damaging multiple units, seriously injuring one man and sending one firefighter to the hospital. The injured man had been smoking a cigarette while storing a propane tank in his unit.

Oct. 22, 2023: Stop and Stor, Sunset Park, N.Y. A fire causes significant damage and dozens of firefighters battle the blaze; one is taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. More than 300 defective e-bikes and dozens of batteries piled up inside two storage units were responsible for the conflagration.

June 14, 2023: Public Storage, San Jose, Calif. A fire engulfs the entire self-storage facility, burning it to the ground. Illegal fireworks ignited inside a storage unit.

May 26, 2023: CubeSmart Self-Storage, Bradenton, Fla. A large fire destroys 30 units and causes approximately $1 million of damage. A homeless man living in a storage unit accidentally set the fire.

May 18, 2023: Access Self Storage, Byfleet, England. Firefighters battle a blaze for three days and the entire facility is ultimately destroyed. Defective batteries in storage were the cause of the fire.

It’s been said that self-storage fires are no more common than other non-residential fires—that those in the industry just pay more attention to them. But is this true? According to Diaz and other firefighters, the challenges that self-storage fires present are unique, which may lend credibility to the idea that they are more common and often more devastating.

For one, the natural design of a self-storage facility puts it at risk; there are dozens, if not hundreds, of units nesting side by side or on top of one another. At the Texas CubeSmart fire, crews even stated that what made the fire so difficult to extinguish was having to break into each individual unit, either using bolt cutters or a saw to cut through the metal. “Firefighters also had to be careful since they did not know what was in each unit,” South Montgomery County Fire Asst. Chief Joseph Leggio said at the time.

Andy Bozzo, a 25-year veteran of the fire service profession, who has since developed Tablet Command, an emergency incident response and management software company designed to save lives, understands the challenges that fires in our industry present for firefighters. “Throughout my career, I’ve fought several fires in self-storage facilities,” he recounts. “They are often a labyrinth of hallways and passageways where egress points are limited; they can contain various hazardous materials, and the amount of stuff found in each unit, the fuel loads, can be high and volatile.”

He gets no argument from Diaz, who adds that heat can even conduct through the metal walls of a unit, potentially skipping one but catching boxes against the wall in a unit two or three doors down. “The combustibles don’t always have to be next to one another to make contact,” says Diaz. “That’s why these fires can get out of hand so fast and why it takes a lot of manpower to get them under control.”

Diaz further explains that there can also be access issues due to the narrow roads and tight confines of many self-storage facilities. During a fire, he says these issues need to be quickly identified and addressed before more units arrive on the scene and potentially block access for both engines laying in supply hoses and ladder trucks carrying elevated streams. “Water supply can be a problem too,” he adds. “Off-site hydrants might require long lays, and on-site private hydrants are often unreliable because of poor maintenance.”

One industry icon who is embarking on retirement but knows about facility fires first-hand is M. Anne Ballard, president of marketing, training, and development services for Universal Storage Group in Atlanta, Ga. Unlike the fires caused by batteries, burners, and fireworks highlighted previously, her story hits a little harder.

“At one property, the spouse of a tenant set himself on fire inside her unit because he was so unhappy. I can’t imagine the unbearable pain he felt, yet he still managed to walk across the freeway to the hospital, the building burning behind him.”

According to Ballard, the fire destroyed the office, manager’s apartment, and multiple tenants’ units. Thankfully, the man survived, and the facility owners had taken out good property insurance that included replacement value and loss of use. In addition, almost all the tenants had insurance on their belongings. So, while it was a horrific thing, “it could have been much worse.”

Monica McMillan is the storage program manager with Universal Storage Insurance, which provides specially designed insurance products and comprehensive coverage for the storage industry. “In a lot of scenarios, damage to tenant goods that happens due to the fault of the owner, say a leaky roof that they failed to repair, is covered, and they are able to reimburse a tenant for damages,” she explains. “These scenarios are the reason you want to have a tenant protection plan in place. The tenants impacted may not always have coverage provided by the owners’ insurance, which is why they should have their own protection.”

She says that some homeowners’ insurance policies cover contents placed in a self-storage facility, but that only covers a percentage of tenants. More often, she’s seen facilities, especially larger operators and those with third-party management systems, offering forms of insurance to their tenants. “They make it easy. Most policies available through various markets offer coverage that is as simple as just checking a box to have insurance included with their monthly fee. There’s no additional bill to pay; it’s pretty inexpensive, and there’s no worry about the coverage lapsing while you are paying your monthly storage bill.”

McMillan says that while some smaller operators and independents may not be able to offer this, it is important to inform new tenants of their option to buy insurance through a provider on their own and provide phone numbers to push them into action whenever possible. “It’s so inexpensive that, unless the tenant is storing items of no value, it makes little sense for them not to get it. While the coverage depends on the value amount, insurances could be as low as $15 per month. On the high end, maybe $50 per month. I just wish my car insurance was that cheap,” she laughs.

Facilities that offer RV and boat storage should also consider other forms of insurance, as should those storing their vehicles. “There was a fire caused by an RV with a propane tank that exploded at one property, and it spread to a dozen other RVs nearby,” recalls McMillan. “This is the perfect scenario of when you need to have the proper coverage to protect your valuables. Most leases will have a limit of value you can store, and without additional coverage, you may be left without the correct replacement value.”

Most self-storage owners and managers are used to putting out fires, like satisfying the angry tenant, fixing the broken gate, and finding the accounting flaw. But many are not used to putting out a real fire. Hopefully, with an “ounce of prevention,” they’ll never have to.

Bozzo says that while he knows it can be difficult, it’s important for facility owners to try to monitor what goes into a unit and clearly state what is not allowed. “One of the biggest problems with certain self-storage facilities is that there is no control over who or what goes into those facilities,” he says. “In the fire service, we’ve seen everything from meth labs to amateur manufacturing, where hazardous chemicals and flammable materials are used. Self-storage facilities are not zoned for this kind of activity specifically, because in one storage unit you can have hazardous or flammable materials, while in the neighboring one you can have a heavy fuel load like couches, chairs, and other ‘fuels’ for the fire.”

Batteries, which were responsible for two of the fires highlighted earlier, are another big issue. “Improper usage and improper disposal of these batteries have caused several fires in the past few years,” says Bozzo. “It’s hard to control whether or not a user of a storage unit will store [them] in their unit. This can be problematic for the owners of the storage facility.”

Ballard agrees it can be difficult to monitor the contents of a unit, but she has some tricks up her sleeve. “You may not know what every tenant is storing, but make sure tenants know and understand the rules about storing hazardous materials. When new tenants are moving in, casually inspect your property while keeping an eye on what they’re storing as you walk by.” With her trademark smile, she adds, “Maybe bring them a cold water bottle; that’ll get you in for a closer look.”

Diaz concurs. “Try to keep an eye on what’s being stored, enforce your rules, and make sure unused units are empty. Keep the place maintained, including the fire alarm, sprinklers, and on-site hydrants,” he says, “and keep access lanes clear and gates in working order to help firefighters if the worst does happen.”

“Prevention is a special discipline in our industry, and my education and experience in it is limited,” continues Diaz. “But the best thing I think any owner can do is contact their fire department’s prevention bureau. They are extremely knowledgeable and can offer an inspection and provide pointers.”

Dante Alighieri, the renowned Italian poet responsible for The Divine Comedy, often spoke positively about the greater potential that small beginnings possess. “From a little spark may burst a flame,” he famously wrote. He wasn’t referring to self-storage fires, of course, but he could have been. It’s a reminder to all of us that just as many big things start small, like our industry and our own businesses, so can fires. With knowledge and prevention, we can put a stop to that little spark before it strikes the powder.