'I’m pretty upset': Renter frustrated after second fire at U-Haul storage facility
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Firefighters rushed to the facility Monday night, breaking windows to clear smoke and searching every floor to make sure no one was inside.
Flames were located in the southeast corner and contained quickly. This is the second fire at the facility in just 10 weeks.
By Tuesday, crews were cleaning up the outside, but inside, some customers say the damage is just beginning.
Jessica said, “This time it’s worse, and this time we have water damage.”
She said, “I saw the water was about two inches deep. I checked my storage unit, and my lock was burned pretty good.”
Jessica said she had everything from appliances to personal belongings stored inside the unit.
“We have a brand-new washer and dryer in there, a stove, rugs, household items, photos.”
Jessica said she is frustrated by the lack of communication from the facility.
She said, “I’m just ready to get my stuff out of there. I’m pretty upset about the situation. I don’t know what’s going on, and nobody will tell us. The last time this happened they didn’t contact us and let us know anything.”
Fire officials say there’s a bigger issue at play.
Milwaukee Fire Department Chief Aaron Lipski said, “We’re back to a discussion that probably sounds very familiar -- where are the sprinklers?”
He added sprinklers could have dramatically reduced smoke and fire damage, saying, “This would have been handled in a very small area. It dramatically reduces the smoke output of whatever has started on fire and the whole thing is much shorter, quicker, and easier.”
Instead, customers like Jessica are left dealing with the aftermath.
She said, “Everything is on the floor, so even the boxes, everything is soaked. So I’m pretty sure everything is now pretty much garbage in that unit.”
The cause of this fire is still under investigation.
Jessica has started a GoFundMe to help replace the items that cannot be saved.