3-alarm fire burns storage facility in Monroe
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MONROE, Wash. -- Firefighters spent hours battling an intense 3-alarm blaze at a storage facility here overnight, and the fire was still smoldering Thursday morning.
The fire broke out just before 1 a.m. inside the storage units at Chain Lake Self Storage.
"I didn't want to accept it until I know for sure," said Kim Carmody, who was between moves and had all her belongings in a unit there. "Furniture, toys, my kids stuff -- literally everything."
Because the storage units are metal, crews could not easily pour water on the blaze from above using ladder trucks and instead had to use saws to cut holes into the siding for their hoses.
Fire Chief Jamie Silva said it was too dangerous for firefighters to enter the building and they fought the fire from the outside.
After sunrise, crews brought in a heavy excavator to tear apart the burned sections of the building so firefighters could ensure the fire is completely extinguished.
About 70 storage units were destroyed. While many lost household items, for Tracy Corner, the fire was a blow to her income as she kept her inventory there for her eBay busniess.
"Will it cut into my finances? For years to come," she said. "Because that's probably about two years of inventory sitting in there. You think you're doing good, you think you're ahead of the ballgame, and no, not now."
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The fire broke out just before 1 a.m. inside the storage units at Chain Lake Self Storage.
"I didn't want to accept it until I know for sure," said Kim Carmody, who was between moves and had all her belongings in a unit there. "Furniture, toys, my kids stuff -- literally everything."
Because the storage units are metal, crews could not easily pour water on the blaze from above using ladder trucks and instead had to use saws to cut holes into the siding for their hoses.
Fire Chief Jamie Silva said it was too dangerous for firefighters to enter the building and they fought the fire from the outside.
After sunrise, crews brought in a heavy excavator to tear apart the burned sections of the building so firefighters could ensure the fire is completely extinguished.
About 70 storage units were destroyed. While many lost household items, for Tracy Corner, the fire was a blow to her income as she kept her inventory there for her eBay busniess.
"Will it cut into my finances? For years to come," she said. "Because that's probably about two years of inventory sitting in there. You think you're doing good, you think you're ahead of the ballgame, and no, not now."
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
All my business records for the last 16 years were stored there. I am not happy - never even got a call.
 @Hagar Their phone lines were most likely down because the units that burned were connected to the office. Someone in California had items stored there and they were trying to call and there was obviously no answer.Â
 @Deniseh1006  @Hagar Yea I went out there this afternoon. Pretty devastating, that is for sure. But you know something... nobody got hurt. It is only "stuff". No photos for example. Just hope I don't get audited for the next 5 years!
That's nearly as bad as a house fire with people losing their belongings. At least no one was hurt & no one was displaced out into the cold.