When I tell people that I work in Self Storage, they immediately think of the TV program Storage Wars. Yes, I have watched the program and the thing to keep in mind is that it is an American TV reality program – parts of it have to be set up or scripted. Even though working in self storage is not as exciting as the program depicts the most interesting thing I like about it is the stories that you hear about. Below is a true story that I would like to share with you. It is a little bit cheeky and gave me a little bit of a chuckle, so I hope that you get some enjoyment out of it as well. Fortunately, these incidents did not occur at our facility.

It is all facility owners nightmare when you get a call from emergency services to inform you that part of your facility is on fire. You could imagine the owners surprise when the reason for the fire was discovered!

The investigations lead to a candle being knocked over as the cause of the fire. When the tenant was interviewed, the real use of his storage unit was revealed.

The tenant had the unit for a while, which had 24 hour access, and the staff often noticed the late hours the tenant was coming and going. There was no suspicious behavior so the staff assumed that he worked odd hours or that it was the only time he could get to his unit. It turned out that he was using his storage unit as a rendezvous to meet up with his girlfriend. The unit had a queen size mattress in the middle of the floor that was surrounded by candles. The couple had been meeting at the unit with their partners none the wiser about the arrangement. A storage transaction on a monthly bank statement I suppose does not raise many questions, unlike multiple hotel charges. On that fateful night, a candle was accidentally knocked over and clothing nearby caught a light. The couple had to flee the burning unit and were left shaking and cold and in shock.

The accidental knocking over of the candle not only caused the tenant to have a very costly storage account to cover the damage that was caused, but it also caused huge embarrassment.

Let this be a little lesson to those reading this blog; do not use your storage unit as a makeshift love hotel – not only for the above reason, but also because I am pretty sure it is illegal too!!