BY JAMES KIRSCH
Through the 1990s and into the first half of this decade, the self-storage business experienced tremendous growth. Many existing warehouses changed ownership and were converted into public storage facilities. Additionally, national chains have established locations throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in Europe and Australia. Along the way, many hybrid storage facilities popped up, as smaller operators connected storage lockers to existing businesses. In many rural areas, facilities of two, three, or four rows of lockers can be readily found, usually without any office or on-scene employees. Such facilities post only a telephone number on the building so people interested in renting can contact the property owner or operator. Some locations may also be offering ATM-style kiosks that allow people to initially rent or pay monthly fees on existing lockers without having to meet a facility manager.
Although the building of new self-storage premises is leveling off, some areas in the country may be experiencing population increases, which bring more of these properties into those regions. As a general rule, the industry tends to look for market share in areas where the residents may be less permanently rooted in the community and where residential storage space is limitedfor example, areas adjacent to military bases or colleges. Also, public storage warehouses may also become increasingly available in locations where many townhouse and condominium tracts are being built, where closet and garage space are limited. Whichever is the case in your area, leveled off or still being built, the fact is that fire departments throughout the country are faced with having to operate at these types of structures. Looking outside your first-due district or town and into your mutual-aid response areas, you may find that your fire company might have to operate at multiple self-storage facilities built in very different configurations.
Transportable Lockers
The transportable locker segment of this industry has shown continued growth. The portable lockers are dropped off at residential or business locations, filled with whatever the renter wants to put in storage, and then are retrieved and stored at warehousing locations. Older versions of these lockers were made of wood and had plywood doors; newer versions can be fiberglass with thin-gauge metal roll-up doors. Sometimes these types of lockers are rented for a limited time and remain at the renter’s home or business, where they can be found in driveways or parking lots, usually while the home or building is undergoing some type of renovation. The major concern about the lockers returned to the storage warehouse site is that employees and first responders do not know what is in them. Although the warehousing facility may say no hazards can be brought onto the premises, the fact is that the locker is filled off-site and locked by the renter prior to its being picked up and brought back to the storage location (photo 1).
 (1) Portable storage lockers allow renters to fill and secure storage bins with unknown stock before being sent to the warehouse. (Photos by author unless otherwise noted.) |
PREPLANNING
You must preplan these facilities to increase your chances of operating successfully at incidents involving them. Go out and look at the premises to determine the layout of the building and the overall conditions. Note locker layout, hallway configuration, exit locations, building construction, utility areas, the presence of auxiliary appliances such as alarm and sprinkler systems, and problems with forcible entry; lack of ventilation points; exposures; and mazelike, similar-looking aisles that will cause search hazards before having to respond to fires at these sites. When preplanning for operations at these structures, consult with the fire prevention inspector, who may have information about the premises the company officer and firefighters do not know. Also, when touring a facility, you may find violations the fire prevention staff must address.
Company officers or department training officers should address the following issues when preparing firefighters for response to self-storage warehouses.
Type of Structure
Is it an existing warehouse that has been in town for years and once served as another occupancy, or is it a newer structure built specifically as public storage warehouse? Is the structure one story with only exterior lockers or two story with exterior lockers on the first floor and interior lockers accessible from a center hallway on the second floor (photos 2, 3)?
 (2) Self-storage warehouses come in a variety of styles, each with their own concerns. |
 (3) |
Converted, Existing Buildings
What is the construction of the buildingnoncombustible, ordinary, wood frame, or mill? Get inside, look at the structural members, and determine how they are constructed. Note the presence or lack of fire protection coverings. Was the building assembled using tilt-up wall panels? How is the roof assembly designed? Is there a basement, or was the structure built on a slab?
Even though you and your crew may have been in the building over the years, the floor layout may have changed dramatically during the conversion to the public storage occupancy. What was once large, open floor spaces may now have only several access aisles that serve hundreds of storage lockers over the same area. Considering the high ceilings of warehouses or converted manufacturing plants, anticipate that an additional floor may have been added. What about the construction of these new floors? There is a good chance the original building was built with trusses to allow for the clear spans needed for the original occupancy’s machinery and stock. There is also a very good chance that the newly added floors are also supported by trusses, since this allows for the majority of floor space to be covered by the lockers while minimizing the need for support columns.
Before you have to operate above or below these new floors under fire conditions, determine their construction: wood deck over wood trusses, which is combustible; open-web bar joist with metal decking, which may transfer heat faster; or open metal gratings, which will allow smoke and heat to move quickly through the building (photos 4-5).
 (4) Added truss floor over lockers: Floors can be of different types. |
 (5) Hallway with trusses: This wood-decked and wood-trussed floor was added in a converted warehouse. (Photo by Joseph Palumbo.) |
What is the weight support rating for the new floor? A New Jersey fire department faced this issue when answering a call for an activated sprinkler alarm at a converted structure. Responding firefighters discovered that a newly installed wood floor supported by parallel-chord wooden trusses had collapsed under several lockers containing boxes of bamboo flooring, breaking the sprinkler piping and triggering the alarm. An investigation revealed that the floor was rated to support 125 pounds per square foot, but the renter, who had use of several adjacent lockers that were stocked completely full, had overstressed the floor to approximately 300 pounds per square foot, causing the collapse (photos 6, 7).
 (6) Overloading of several adjacent lockers led to truss failure and a floor collapse. (Photos by Joseph Palumbo.) |
 (7) |
Renters wanting to save money will rent the smallest locker possible and stuff it with as many of their possessions as they can cram into it. Always consider overloading of newly installed floors. Do not ignore signs of stressed floor supports if you notice them during familiarization tours. Consider that firefighters may be working on or below such floors during fire operations, when storage may be gaining weight from absorbing water runoff from operating sprinkler heads or fire hoses, increasing the collapse potential. Additionally, the concentrated weight of several firefighters working in the same area may be enough to cause the weakened floor to fail.
Such a scenario may also play out even if the floor is that of the original building design. For example, if a building is designed as a high-rise office building, the floors will be engineered to carry the weight for that type of occupancy. However, if the building cannot be rented as office space, it may be converted to a storage occupancy, and the floors would require additional supports to carry the resulting increased load. There is at least one case in which this happened, but the hazards were recognized. Additional floor supports, an agreement to have semiannual inspections by engineers to check for floor deflection, and an upgraded sprinkler system helped to limit the risks posed by the occupancy change.
Note also the presence of trusses in the roof or other areas that are part of the original structure. Bowstring, steel open-web bar joist, or larger dimensional wooden trusses may all be found. Responders must know their locations and inherent dangers. Another concern with existing buildings is that past manufacturing processes may have allowed combustible or inflammable liquids to soak into the floors, which may lead to faster fire spread in the converted facility. A recent fire in Australia that destroyed 20 businesses and numerous storage units in a converted Victorian-era structure was fed by lanolin-soaked floors, a by-product of a former sheep-shearing operation that had previously been on the premises.1
Newly Constructed Warehouses
Newly constructed public storage warehouses may contain noncombustible structural elements such as nonprotected steel columns and open-web bar joist trusses that support Q-deck roofing or flooring that carry a significant collapse risk when exposed to a serious fire condition. Larger steel I-beams on lower floors will be reduced in size on the upper floors, because there will be less of a building weight to carry. However, the ability of the smaller I-beams to absorb heat is lessened as the beams are reduced in size. Significant fires fueled by the stock of fully loaded lockers will have a negative impact on the beam’s ability to continue to carry loads. Top-floor fires may lead to a metal deck roof fire, with burning roofing materials dropping down into opened top lockers, spreading the fire.
Steel-framed buildings with metal Q-decking floor pans and roof deck enclosed with sheet metal wall coverings and filled with metal lockers will mean that you probably will encounter high heat and steam conditions when you locate the fire area and hoselines and sprinklers are operating. Conducted heat through the metal structural components will also allow the fire to spread to other parts of the building. You must know the location and condition of fire walls that will help to stop the spread of fire.
Exterior rows of drive-up type storage buildings may also be of steel and sheet metal construction or block construction with light-gauge metal roll-up doors and roof coverings. They may be one story or have a second floor accessible from each end and possibly from a center staircase. Many times, gaps run the entire length of these structures, because of the presence of roof supports or purlins and the fact that interior locker walls do not continue up to meet the roof or floor above (photo 8). Cutting off the end of the fire’s extension and working back to the lockers of origin are key to stopping the fire spread. Preventing the fire’s extension will be difficult if you find advanced fire conditions on arrival. The structure’s construction features, coupled with large amounts of stock, long hoselays because of deep properties, limited water supply, blocked drive aisle spaces, and a lack of sprinklers all will contribute to continued fire spread while you try to muster enough forces and get in position to begin the firefight. Putting members on the roof to cut a trench vent to stop the fire spread is dangerous because of the thinness of the roof covering and the lack of supports under the roof deck and should not be considered as a viable option.
 (8) Roof and floor supports for exterior rows of lockers usually mean interior locker walls will have gaps at the top, easily allowing fire spread. |
One of newer types of building construction showing up in public storage buildings uses preformed concrete panels that make up the wall, floor, and roof structure. The panels are trucked onto the site, lifted into place, and secured onto steel dowels. Walls are further anchored by L-shaped brackets that are welded in place (photos 9, 10). Will a major fire in this type of structure cause the concrete to spall, possibly exposing the steel-supporting dowels to the fire? Wall failure may cause entire panels instead of smaller sections of block to drop, which may also be the case in other noncombustible classified buildings. These buildings tend to be very large, and the presence of 1,000 or more storage lockers is not uncommon.
 (9) Some larger warehouses are now being built with concrete slabs supported on steel dowels. |
 (10) |
EXPOSED PROPERTIES
Exposed properties may be under the same roof or an adjacent structure. New, multistoried, stand-alone warehouses may be quite close to other buildings. Refurbished existing buildings may have been split into different occupancies with the self-storage area sharing the premises with a variety of other businesses. If that is the case, consider during preplanning that the fire may cross over to the exposure and the additional hazards that that would present (photos 11, 12).
 (11) Sharing the same converted building, the exposure behind this half wall is a building supply company. |
 (12) |
Whether the building is a multistory interior-locker type or of the exterior, drive-up locker configuration, consider accessing any yard around the premises. Since security is a major concern for the operators of these facilities, anticipate some kind of fence and gate arrangement. Perimeter fencing, especially for the drive-up type of public storage lockers, is usually a minimum of eight feet in height and often is topped with barbed wire or razor ribbon, limiting entry to the gate area. If you decide to cut the fence in another area to allow for firefighter access, operations will be slowed; also consider the risk of injury to the firefighters.
Some establishments may be surrounded by block or other types of masonry walls. This may obstruct your view of what is burning as you approach the scene and may delay discovery of the fire by passersby during nonbusiness hours. Such walls will also mean limited entry points to the yard and will make it difficult for later-arriving companies to maneuver when supply lines are already laid in the driveway. Also, exiting vehicles will be trying to leave the scene through the same route fire apparatus need to enter, interfering with fire department unit placement and overall operations. Additionally, the existence of walls may hinder the application of water from handlines and master streams operating along the perimeter.
The gate may be electrically operated and may pivot vertically or slide horizontally to open. These types of gates will close automatically unless controlled. A pass code may be needed to open the gate; the easiest thing to do may be to have the manager program the keypad at the gate with an easy-to-remember code, such as the numbers that correspond to the letters that spell out “FIRE.” It may also be possible to override the gate controls in the office or at a control box at the gate itself, allowing the gate to remain in the open position for the duration of the emergency.
If you have to enter any building during nonbusiness hours, you may have to use conventional forcible entry or a key in a rapid access box, so it is important to know the location of such a key vault beforehand. It is also in the best interest of your department to make sure that the correct key is in the box and that it has a label that indicates which door or doors it opens. You must impress on facility operators the importance of the key vault and of ensuring that the most recent key is in the box should locks be changed.
When conducting a preplan walk-through of an interior-type public storage facility, make sure that you become familiar with the hallway layouts, the locations of exits, and any dead-end corridors that may be present; clearly note them in the preplans. Don’t expect that structures converted into public storage warehouses will have the same hallway or exit path layout as the previous occupancy. Converted buildings may hold some nasty surprises; you don’t want to find out about them when you or one of your fellow firefighters is lost in the smoke. Partition walls built to cover existing stairwells, original inner doors that are heavily secured because they now lead to an adjoining occupancy, and labeled exit doors that now lead to a six-foot drop because a loading dock was removed have all been found in converted buildings (photos 13, 14).
 (13) Converted warehouses will often cut off existing halls and stairways. |
 (14) Preplanning is essential to avoid surprises. (Photos by Joseph Palumbo.) |
Row after row of similar looking lockers can quickly disorient firefighters and any civilians who may have remained in the building. This problem is compounded if the hallways are filled with smoke. If you know the locker hallway identificationread the locker directional sign at the end of the halland know how many halls of lockers there are, you should be able to determine how far you are from an outside wall, which is where the exits will be found. For example, if you know from your department’s preplan that there are 22 hallways of lockers and you are at the row of lockers labeled 1901 through 1950, you should have to travel only three rows to be near an outside wall. After having crawled to the first adjoining row from where you started, check the hallway identification sign to confirm you are going in the correct direction (row 20 as opposed to row 18). It is vital to always use search ropes and thermal imaging cameras (TICs). Additionally, devise and practice a comprehensive plan for finding lost firefighters.2
FINDING THE BURNING LOCKERS
Always expect a heavy smoke condition in an interior-locker storage occupancy because of heavy fire loading and limited ventilation points. This smoke condition will be difficult to move if operating sprinklers are keeping the smoke down. Of course, if the sprinkler system is operating, the sound of the flowing water may be able to lead you to the fire area. Steam generated by water’s striking the hot metal enclosures will add to the low-visibility conditions. In climate-controlled premises, the ductwork may allow smoke to spread to other parts of the warehouse. Opened-topped lockers will also allow the smoke to travel more quickly from the point of origin.
In a single-floor warehouse, there may be a large open area over the lockers that extends to the roof line. Before committing handlines in an attempt to find the fire, you can use the following tactic: Have a folding or “A” ladder brought inside to the first locker hallway. Set up the ladder, and have a member with a TIC scan over the top of the lockers. This may quickly pinpoint the location of the fire without having to commit an entire company to search for it (photos 15, 16).
 (15) With a large area to be searched to locate the fire, before committing companies, |
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 (16) place a firefighter with a thermal imaging camera on a ladder to quickly scan the smoke-filled maze of lockers. |
This ladder tactic can also be used if the handline is short of the intended location. It may be possible to position a member at the top of the ladder with a hose and flow water onto the burning lockers to knock down any advancing fire or to supplement the water being applied by a sprinkler head. This tactic will work better if the lockers are opened topped or covered only by wire mesh. Obviously, you should consider this a “holding” tacticuntil a hoseline of sufficient length and size is stretched into position.
While conducting a preplan walk-through, consider how fire can spread from locker to locker. In some of the smaller warehouse operations, the lockers may have been framed in wood 2 × 4s with plywood walls and doors, which would allow flame to spread the fire from locker to locker. Direct flame spread to adjacent lockers is also possible with lockers that are separated only by chicken wire on the sides or top. Radiated heat spread is possible with these types of lockers as well.
In facilities that have light-gauge metal locker enclosures, conducted heat will travel through the locker walls, spreading the fire to adjacent storage. Again, renters will store as much of their belongings as possible into the least expensive (and, therefore, smallest) locker. Many times, this means stock is shoved right up against the walls, where it can easily be heated by the fire on the other side of the thin-gauge partition. With interior and exterior types of lockers, it is not uncommon to find walls that do not continue up to meet the underside of the roof or floor above. It is also not uncommon to find that renters have stacked their items to a height higher than that of the locker walls, which will easily allow fire to spread from locker to locker, unchecked, while feeding on an abundant fuel supply. Don’t forget to look at the underside of the floor above as well, especially if it was added to a converted warehouse. The floor may also be constructed of metal decking, which will allow conducted heat to travel to the lockers above.
Opening Locker Doors
As you continue your walk-through to gain knowledge for your preplan, size up the locker door sizes. You will have to get these doors open to completely extinguish what will be deep-seated fires. Again, this is more of a problem with the interior self-storage warehouse than the exterior drive-up type, but both have their dangers. First, see if the door is hinged on one of its sides, which means it will swing outward, as opposed to rolling up. This is usually the case with smaller lockers, but some facilities will employ small roll-up locker doors. Swing-out doors will also cause the hallway to be partially blocked, possibly interfering with operations. Determine if there is a handle at the bottom of the door, which will indicate that it is a roll-up door. You may have to work on these doors under heavy smoke conditions, so feeling for these features will give you needed information. Keep in mind that when it comes time to open the door, burning storage and water-logged boxes may have collapsed against the door, making it more difficult to open. Whether the locker is of the interior or exterior type, if enough fire has impinged on the roller-drum mechanism above the doorway, it may be ready to drop off, possibly striking members.
Look at the locks on the doors. You will find a wide array of arrangements, from light-duty to heavy-duty padlocks, different colored locks, and even multiple locks on one door. Talk to the on-site manager to find out what lock color scheme is usedfor instance, a blue lock may indicate an empty locker. When deciding which lockers need to be opened first to check for fire extension, since the lockers secured by blue locks should be empty of storage, fire spread may be minor or nonexistent because of the lack of fuel. A red lock may indicate that management secured the storage locker because the renter has not paid. This red lock will be the second lock on the doorin addition to the renter’s installed lock. Called “overlocking,” this red, second lock does not allow the renter access to the storage bin until he pays his overdue rent. What it means for firefighters is that they have to defeat two locks to open the door.
Consider what you want to accomplish with the door. Should you attack the locks, the slide bolt, or the door itself? Are you looking to apply water through an opening in the door to attack the fire or to cut off fire spread, or do you need to get the door open without losing the door’s integrity? Because of the thinness of the light-gauge metal door, rotary saws, reciprocating saws, or air chisels can easily cut through them. You can also readily pierce the door with a pickhead ax as well as the point of a halligan bar and the tip of a piercing applicator (photos 17, 18).
 (17) Doors can be easily penetrated by piercing applicators. |
 (18) In more narrow hallways, longer applicators may have to be used at an angle. |
For exterior, drive-up lockers, the easiest way to gain access to cut off a fast-moving fire is to cut quickly through the doors using a rotary saw with a metal cutting blade. Triangular cuts are quick to make and will allow for stream penetration, but more of the door will have to be cut away to allow better access for overhaul and complete extinguishment. Three larger cuts along the top of the door and down the two sides will allow for a larger initial opening. A second firefighter using a pike pole, in conjunction with the saw man, can make sure that the door is pulled out away from the locker as soon as it is cut as opposed to letting it fall inward onto the storage contents.
If the operation calls only for forcing entry while leaving all or as much of the door intact as possible, you can force the padlock in the conventional manner. Additionally, you can cut the area between the lock and the wall with a saw, slicing the slide bolt in half. Bending the door skin out of the way may be enough to get the slide bolt out of the way, unlocking the door. In a similar manner, you can easily cut the entire lock mechanism out of the door, if necessary, and remove the slide bolt, if it hasn’t already fallen out of the way.
A word of caution when cutting doors with a power saw: Although the renters sign a contract stating they will not store compressed cylinders in their lockers, history has shown that all types of compressed cylinder storage has been found during incidents. Therefore, consider the dangers presented by cutting into such cylinders. In November 2002, a Lewisville, Texas, firefighter inadvertently cut through the shoulder of a propane tank while opening up doors to check for the advance of fire through a self-storage facility.
In the case where you have to reach interior lockers through enclosed hallways, do not use rotary saws to cut locker doors. Using saws in a hallway, where firefighters may be working in close proximity to each other and operating in a heavy smoke condition, is risky. Look for other options because of the possibility for serious cut injuries and the fact that the saw may continuously stall out because of the smoke.
A quick way to defeat the locking mechanism is to use a cordless reciprocating saw on the slide bolt. A careful examination of the door during preplan walk-throughs should reveal a gap between the edge of the door and the adjacent metal covering that hides the area into which the slide bolt moves. This gap exposes the flat, thin slide bolt. By placing the reciprocating saw metal cutting blade into this gap, the operator can cut through the slide bolt in several seconds, unlocking the door. The gap is usually apparent and wide enough for the blade to work; if additional room is needed, tap the cutting blade end of a flathead ax in between the door edge and the adjoining light-gauge metal covering. You can easily push the adjoining metal cover out of the way, increasing the size of the gap (photo 19).
 (19) Using a reciprocating saw on the slide bolt easily defeats the locking mechanism. Note management “overlocked” the door. |
Water Supply
Preplan also how to get water into the burning lockers during a strategy and tactics walk-through. During actual operations, swing-out doors, fallen or removed storage items, pallet jacks, and even hand carts may be blocking the aisle space, making it difficult to advance lines. Opening up lockers and removing items, which may include couches and large appliances, to knock down the fire spread may only worsen the clogged condition in the hallway. The engine company officer may elect to employ a piercing nozzle through the door skin of the burning lockers in an effort to slow the progress of the advancing fire. The length of the piercing nozzle, depending on the width of the hallway, may mean the nozzle will have to operate at a slight angle. Keep in mind that this operation may increase the steam condition because of the water’s hitting the hot metal locker enclosure. This steam condition may be worse directly in front of the door, as the steam will escape around the door’s upper roller mechanism and come down along the face of the door. This condition will not be as severe if the locker is enclosed on top with only wire mesh instead of a complete ceiling.
The presence of a sprinkler system is another strategic influence for the engine company officer, as well as the incident commander. Where is the fire department connection? Are wall-indicating or post-indicating valves on the property? Is this a wet or dry system? If you know about a sprinkler system in an existing building that has been converted, go back and look over everything again. What had been a wet system may very well now be a dry system if the new owner does not want to pay to heat storage areas that have limited human occupancy. A big concern is if the existing system from the previous occupancy can now handle the storage load it is expected to protect. If the facility was newly built, perhaps with sprinkler coverage designed for a light-hazard classification, but the building is converted to a public warehouse because it could not be rented as originally intended, the system will be underrated to meet the new occupancy’s protection needs.
During the walk-through, find out which areas are covered by sprinklers. Are only the hallways protected, or does coverage extend into each locker as well? Sometimes, it may be possible to look into the tops of the locker enclosures because the walls fail to meet up with the ceiling; this may expose the sprinkler piping and heads. Don’t be surprised to find that the renter has placed stock up to and around the sprinkler head, which will interfere with its effectiveness (photo 20).
 (20) It is common to find that renters have blocked sprinkler heads with their storage. |
Exterior rows of storage lockers are not usually protected by sprinklers or even monitored by detection alarm systems, which may lead to advanced fire conditions on arrival. Even if a warehouse that stores portable storage bins is protected by sprinklers, the individual portable lockers will have no interior sprinkler coverage. Again, will stacks of portable lockers, filled with unknown goods and locked off-premises, be adequately protected by the existing sprinkler system if a fire occurs?
Newer, multistoried buildings may be equipped with standpipes. You must know their locations. Check to make sure your adaptors fit all standpipe and sprinkler connections. Check all fire hydrants on the property for operation and flow. Another concern for the engine officer is if preconnected handlines will reach the fire area. It is not unheard of to have hallways well over 200 feet in length with no cross aisles present. If the burning locker is at the far end from where you would expect to normally enter the building, you may have to add lengths onto the attack lines. During preplan walk-throughs, it is a good idea to take numerous measurements to see how far it might be from the pumper to the far reaches of the warehouse where you might be expected to operate.
Ventilation
From the ladder company officer’s perspective, ventilation will be the next concern after helping the engine crew force entry to the building and to the lockers. On interior, multistoried warehouses, expect limited ventilation points. When pulling up to the front of the building, you may be looking at large showroom windows on several floors. Many times you will find that the hallways behind these windows are not accessible from the public hall and that you may be looking at the back wall of the interior lockers. Taking a closer look may reveal that these are dummy doors. There will be no locks on them, because the majority of these “doors” are really a wall and will not open. However, there is usually at least one pass-through locker that will allow employees into the area adjacent to the windows, usually to allow for the hanging of advertising banners. Locating these pass-through lockers and seeing how the rear door opens (usually a swing-out door) is good information for a truck officer looking for windows to vent.
Expect limited ventilation points. Even larger, multistoried warehouses with windows in the front will have few or probably no windows as you get to the rear of the structure (photos 21, 22). Security bars may cover lower-floor windows, where they exist. In older, retrofitted public storage warehouses, it is not uncommon to find that all of the windows have been covered over or blocked up. Since lockers don’t need windows, the existing windows are removed so the wall space can become an interior side for a locker. All preplans should include information on how the windows were covered over (masonry block, plywood, or metal roll-up door material, for example) and if the original locations are now inside lockers or in what is now a hallway. Is it possible to be able to locate and breach the wall in the area of the original window? This may be difficult, but you may have to consider it because of the overall lack of ventilation points. You must know the locations of roof scuttles and skylights, if they exist. The scuttle hatch will be the best high point for ventilation, but it will probably have to be forced open. Doing this from the interior scuttle ladder will be difficult; it will be impossible to hold onto the ladder because you will need both hands to manipulate the tools. You must make sure there is a key for the hatch lock and any other lock and cover over the scuttle ladder and know their locations.
 (21) In new construction, expect ventilation points to become nonexistent as you move to the rear. |
 (22) |
Venting through the roof scuttle will allow you to vent only a relatively small area from the top floor in a specific location. A traditional cut roof vent, which presents the potential for cutting through trusses, is a tactic for top-floor fires; its success for venting lower floors is marginal. Placing such an opening over a stairwell to vent lower floors may work better, but you may not be able to see the location of the stairwell from the roof. If possible, during preplanning, measure the location of the stairwells, and mark the roof accordingly. Remember, you may be faced with an advanced fire condition and have only limited ventilation points on the front wall and none as you move deeper into the building.
The only other building feature available to a roof crew may be the top of an elevator shaft. You may need to consider breaching the elevator shaft block wall above the roof line, depending on the severity of the fire and the smoke condition and the conditions facing the interior crews. With the elevator car at first-floor level, and with the door to the shaft opened on the fire floor only, you may be able to afford some relief to the inside firefighters as the heat and smoke move up the shaft and out the breached opening. Is this an ideal situation? No, but when there may be absolutely no other way to vent the building, it is an idea worth considering. Of course, such an operation presents hazards, and the hallway on either side of the elevator shaft would have to be off limits so no personnel are exposed to the open shaftway.
Such an operation may call for the presence of a safety officer and at least radio communications that advise the interior forces that this hazard exists and at what location. The interior forces must acknowledge receipt of this message. Consider accountability and crew integrity paramount. A thought-out ventilation plan worked out in preplanning that takes into account your department’s mechanical ventilation capabilities and what you can receive through responding mutual-aid companies should give you a good idea of how much smoke you should be able to move out of existing or more conventional openings.
If the building is climate controlled, look at the HVAC system’s role in moving smoke through the structure and determine the locations of duct smoke detectors. The location of the HVAC system plant may be one of the lockers reserved for utilities. Note its location on the preplan, and label the locker door accordingly. This applies also to utility locations, the elevator room, and the sprinkler control room.
As mentioned earlier, exterior, drive-up row storage lockers will sometimes have a second floor of lockers accessed by an interior hallway. This hallway is usually void of windows. Crews operating on the interior may need to have a “window” cut into the metal wall to facilitate venting. The rotary cutting saw with a metal cutting blade should be able to handle this job with little difficulty. Follow all required safety procedures; this task may have to be completed from ladders placed on the exterior or tower ladder buckets. An advanced fire may cause the metal walls to deform, creating gaps and possibly allowing the fire to self-vent. This is also a sign that the structural stability is degrading; an exterior, defensive operation may be indicated.
Although not common, it is possible to find public storage lockers with windows. They usually will be in the exterior, drive-up locker configuration. Some operators have been turning storage lockers into mini-offices, which they rent. Consider this new role for the locker if you discover windows in lockers during walk-throughs or when responding to a fire. Storage doesn’t need to look out of windows; in fact, windows increase the risk of a break-in. So, why would the window be there? People may see the window as an attractive feature that will aid in ventilation and natural lighting while working in the locker/office space; they may even wish to work with the roll-up door down or partially closed.
STORAGE CONDOMINIUMS
Another recent trend in the self-storage industry is storage condominiums, where the developer of the property sells the individual locker spaces instead of renting the storage bin on a monthly basis. This has been primarily used for oversized vehicle storage such as boats and recreational vehicles, but buyers have been known to convert such units to office space. Developers have even supplied storage condominiums with electrical power and fluorescent lighting. You may be able to identify these units by their larger size (the most common is 14 feet × 40 feet) and the presence of a sectional type of overhead door, similar to a home’s garage door.3 Some of the largest storage condominiums can be up to 2,000 square feet and can get quite personalized. A recent article in the New York Times described how some storage condominium owners have added baseboard heating, floor and wall coverings, second-floor mezzanines, recreational game tables, andin one casea batting cage.4
LIFE HAZARD
Of course, you have to account for all employees scheduled to be working, including security guards and overnight workers. But you must also account for any renters who might be on-site. If the monitoring screen or a search reveals locker doors that are open, you must account for every renter who opened his locker. Are these people still in the building, or are they standing in the parking lot or sitting in their cars? Of course, people could have closed their lockers and left (or attempted to leave) without contacting management. Information on file with the management, if available, should help you track down any renters known to be on-scene but who may have fled prior to the fire department’s arrival. The crews assigned to victim search must include not only the fire area but also any places of refuge, such as restrooms, offices, utility rooms, stairwells, basements, and elevator cars. Also, check and clear exposure occupancies.
Part of the life hazard problem includes the improper use of locker spaces as living spaces, usually without ownership knowledge or consent. Some people may be paying their monthly rental fee while staying overnight without management’s knowledge. Others may be illegally squatting. This is more of a problem with the exterior drive-up type of lockers, where life hazard searches may not initially be considered an immediate concern. When performing on-site inspections, look for signs of people living in the lockers, such as discarded food containers or extension cords running into lockers to power small appliances. Talk with managers to see if this has been a problem in the past. If so, arriving units may have to consider a primary victim search. A primary victim search should also be a priority if storage condominiums have taken hold in your response district.
HIDDEN DANGERS OF STORAGE
It seems that every couple of weeks a news article reveals illegal items that have been found in lockers around the country, and even overseas. In addition to the “routine” items such as propane cylinders and household chemicals, there have been documented cases of oxygen cylinders, acetylene cylinders, meth labs, pipe bombs, ammunition, flame throwers, rocket launchers, hand grenades, tear gas, and antitank weapons beng found. The 1993 World Trade Center bomb was mixed in a New Jersey public storage warehouse, and a large stock of ammonium nitrate was found in a self-storage locker several years ago in London.5
These are uncertain times, and public storage warehouses must be considered at the forefront of hazardous occupancies in relation to homeland security. During any walk-through, keep this in mind and be on the lookout for anything that looks odd, such as lockers emitting odors, discarded chemical containers, signs of corrosion, or power cords running into lockers. Although you are legally limited in what you can ask the managers about tenants, a general question to the manager might be whether he had witnessed anything out of the ordinary on the premises that might lead to an answer that law enforcement personnel need to follow up.
The public storage industry provides information to facility operators relative to terrorism issues and facility owners’ rights when it comes to searches and facility inspections, including fire inspections. Some of this information can be accessed through the Self Storage Association’s Web site: www.selfstorage.org.
Public storage facility fires can be difficult fires to fight; they are fraught with the hazards presented by an unknown, mixed fuel load. Preplanning, frequent facility familiarization tours, and strategy and tactics skull sessions by company officers with their members will go a long way in helping your department be successful when operating at self-storage warehouse fires.
Endnotes
1. “Massive Fire Wrecks Up to 20 Businesses,” International Fire Fighting News. www.firefightingnews.com, February 1, 2007.
2. Kirsch, James, “Preplanning for Incidents at Self-Storage Warehouses,” Fire Engineering, January 2002, 61-72.
3. “Developers Delve Into Storage Condos,” Caesar Wright, Inside Self-Storage, www.insideselfstorage.com, December 1, 2006.
4. “A Home for Your Gear, and a Place to Play with It,” Kristina Shevory, New York Times, February 1, 2008.
5. “Issues of Homeland Security, Your Rights and Responsibilities As a Self-Storage Operator,” Kenneth M. Piken, Inside Self Storage, www.insideself-storage.com, March 7, 2006.
JAMES KIRSCH is a career lieutenant with the Bergenfield (NJ) Fire Department, where he also serves as a training officer. He is a 25-year veteran of the fire service and previously served as a volunteer fire chief. He is a logistics manager with the New Jersey Task Force 1 US&R team. He has a master’s degree in public administration.
