Indiana Storage Fire Injures Two, Damages Several Units [VIDEO]

A fire broke out at a Greenwood, Indiana self-storage facility Wednesday morning, January 17, injuring two people and destroying thousands of dollars in property. First responders at the facility, County Line Self-Storage located at 1485 West County Line Road, reported seeing a storage unit and a car on fire. They battled the blaze for 45 minutes, however it took nearly two hours to completely extinguish the flames.

In total, six storage units were damaged and an investigation is underway. On the scene, paramedics discovered a tenant who admitted to living in his unit "off and on." It is unknown whether his living situation had any bearing on the blaze. The man was taken to a hospital for burn treatment and listed in serious condition. A firefighter was also taken to the hospital with injuries, but has since been released.

One of the six units was damaged when firefighters had to force entry in order to stop the spread of flames. The tenant, David Hancock, says he lost approximately $5000 worth of belongings. He told officials that none of his items were insured. "It's very disheartening and depressing," Hancock said.

Anne Ballard with Universal Storage Group (USG) says that this is why it's important that facilities have good property insurance. "It should include replacement value and loss of use," she says, recalling a fire at one of USG's facilities that destroyed the office, manager’s apartment, and some tenant units. “The owner had good property insurance," she says. "All of the tenants had insurance on their belongings and the manager had content insurance on her belongings in the apartment.” 

Protection plans are another way to help tenants affected by an event such as a fire. Chris Betteridge with Deans & Homer explains the benefits of protection plans and how they differ from insurance in our Who's Who In Self Storage feature. 

Video of the incident and interview with people on the scene are included in the WTHR Video below.