Heartbreaking for those that lost irreplaceable items, but my questions are for the management of this facility....
Who out there provides electricity for a space heater, or allows a propane one to be used on their property?
Who out there allows tenants to work on vehicles in their units?
Who out there allows gasoline in any form of container to be stored inside the unit?

If I was tenant that lost my items I would have some hard questions for the management. Furthermore, what kind of response is this from the manager?-- "The on-site manager Wednesday told the News he didn't know what was going to happen, as he had never been in this position before." If there was ever a need for a company policy for dealing with the media, this is it.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7...d-storage.html

Space heaters in the units = No!
Propane heaters in the units = No!

We do allow vehicle 'storage' but no repairs are allowed on site! Do I think that once in awhile a guy or two bends or pushes the rules, absolutely! I take that opportunity to remind them if I catch them, they're outta here!!!

The Fire Marshall allows this on two conditions; 1. that we know where the vehicles are stored 2. that we advise the tenant to keep the tank 1/2 full to allow for any expansion of the gas in the tank.

#1 is in the event of a fire, they know where the potential explosions could occur. #2 self-explanatory, you don't want a tank exploding.

The scariest thing I ever found was a 5x5 unit with 9 propane tanks, mostly full plus a pressurized cylinder of helium in a unit going up for auction. That was in the same building where I lay my head down to sleep. Of course they were buried from sight by miscellaneous items of worthless value, so a walk by didn't raise any alarm bells in my head.

Those poor people who lost things, I can relate due to other circumstances, but losing the priceless memories is the worst. There are so many educational sources for how to deal with the media in a professional manner. The simplest manner is to say NOTHING! Simply pass the responsibility on to the owner who hopefully has provided the employee with a media accessible means of contact that the employee could easily pass along. Sigh...

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Gina 6k
CochraneStorage dot com
Morgan Hill, California
twitter.com/CochraneStorage

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough!
I am not an attorney, just an experienced manager who is willing to share what I have learned. Your thoughts, practices or opinions may vary and neither of us may be right.

OMG!!!!


Space Heater -- NO WAY!
Working on Cars -- Not here!
GASOLINE and a SPACE HEATER -- NEVER EVER IN A BILLION YEARS!!!!!

As a manager why would you ever allow anything like this!

It would be interesting to see how this all plays out, but you never hear "the rest of the story"

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Wayne
Jamestown, ND


All arguments can be resolved ... with high explosives and Humor!!!

Yeah, I'm still wondering what the resolution was on the syrup unit.

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Gina 6k
CochraneStorage dot com
Morgan Hill, California
twitter.com/CochraneStorage

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough!
I am not an attorney, just an experienced manager who is willing to share what I have learned. Your thoughts, practices or opinions may vary and neither of us may be right.

Let's not start that again -- that was a real sticky situation.

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Wayne
Jamestown, ND


All arguments can be resolved ... with high explosives and Humor!!!

As tragic as a fire can be for our business and our customers always remember that you may not have any liability for the fire damage, but you may have assumes total liability for the safety of your customers, in my opinion, when you allow customers to start going through their units following a fire. It is a very fine line that you must walk as the owner in dealing with folks who may have just lost everything. As you could tell from the photographs, the twisted metal, destroyed roll up doors and wall panels are not a very friendly environment for people to be crawling around inside their unit.

I totally agree that the manager should have never said anything to the media. I know a number of great managers, but dealing with the media is not your job. Let the owner shot herself/himself in the foot, but remember all of your other customers are paying close attention to everything that is said and done. After reading that manager’s quote, I am left with the image of someone that doesn’t have a total handle on their job and therefore I wonder is this really the place I want to store my belongings?

There are no winners when fire strikes one of our businesses. The best you can hope for is to mitigate the damages going forward to the business, the customers directly impacted and your other tenants.

MisterJim444

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Learning Never Ends, But Will Time?

I think a lease a tenant signs should be very specific over the do's and dont's of your facility, the manager should take the time to explain and make sure the tenant understands the policies of the facility.
The lease should also talk about what not to store, heirlooms,sentimental, flammables, etc...
Plus the manager should of just kept quiet until talking to a higher authority person before any media releases...

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Countryside Self Storage

Maybe the Manager didn't know that the guy repairing the motorcycle had a heater in there? But then again, who know's....what a nightmare for everyone involved......

I agree that we must consider the manager might not have been aware of this happening on the property. For 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! We must be clear in the contracts we have the tenant sign and I think that most managers honestly do everything they can to insure the well being of the tenants, their belongings and the property but even so there are some things we just will never be able to control and people will try just about anything. i walk my property an average of 6 times per day, I pay attention to every car, person moving truck etc, but that does not mean I did not miss something when I ran to the bank or went to the apartment for lunch. Media Policy yes!!!! but you never really hear how upset everyone is with the tenant who broke the rules and ruined others belongings, usually you hear blame to the manager and in some cases this is true, but not always. I am just not clear who is to blame here but it is clear that alot of people lost because of it.

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Lovin it.

I agree with Sandra, we know what is going on here at all times.

There is plenty of time during the day to walk the property, and my husband is a regular sight out there. He's always aware.

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What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are small matters compared to what lies within us!

Shannon