Tenants Blame E-Bike Business For Major Self-Storage Fire

A large Storage King facility went up in flames in Burpengary, north of Brisbane, Australia, last week. The fire tore through approximately 120 units and another 258 were impacted by heat, smoke and water damage.

Although tenants were obviously upset about the loss of their belongings, the story doesn't end there. While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, tenants have learned that an e-scooter business was based inside the storage facility. They now suspect the fire could have been caused by the bikes' batteries. 

Ellian Price, who lost many priceless personal items, told A Current Affair, "I've got my contract. It says in here three times 'nothing flammable, nothing explosive.'" She further claimed, "It [also] states in here 'businesses cannot be run from the premises', and it was knowingly happening." 

Tenant Adam Pringle echoed the sentiments. "They [Storage King] keep saying, the insurance is on us [the tenant], but if our insurance is on us they must abide by their own laws and their own requirements of not allowing a business operate there that has lithium batteries."

The facility is expected to be demolished following the conclusion of a police and fire investigation

A Storage King spokesperson said the company was assisting police with their ongoing investigation. "It is important not to speculate or cast any premature blame around the cause of the fire, and leave it to the expert police investigators to report their findings," the spokesperson said.

The company released this official statement:

We recognise this is a very difficult time for our customers.

We know thoughts and prayers count for little at times of such devastating loss, but we are doing everything in our power to help our customers and keep them informed.

The site is owned and managed by a licensee and Storage King has been providing them with a high level of support at a very difficult, busy and complex time.

Every time we have received new information, we have passed it on to customers.

We have sent SMSs, emails and FAQs on an almost daily basis, noting that in the first few days after the fire there were many unknowns and little tangible detail that could be provided.

We stood up a dedicated call centre and sent customers the interim engineer's report and an initial set of photos.

We will send more photos to help customers with insurance claims as soon as we have better access to the site.

We know this is frustrating, and we are sorry that we don't have instant answers, but please bear with us as we continue to seek and update you on the information you need.

It is no comfort to those who lost their possessions, but the state-of-the-art construction of the facility, including an extra fire wall between Stage 2 and Stage 3, helped prevent two thirds of the facility being entirely destroyed.

The QLD Fire Dept were on site in seven minutes and their heroic efforts in the face of such a large fire should be acknowledged.

The very nature of the self storage industry means the responsibility for insuring stored good does and should lie with the individual customer.

It is simply not feasible for a storage company to insure goods on customers' behalf or run a compensation program for situations like this.

Every customer stores different items, each with unique value and sentimental importance.

Only they know exactly what they are storing and how much it is worth, making them the best person to decide whether and how much to insure their goods.

The cost of a blanket insurance policy would have to be passed on to customers, but it would not suit everyone. Some customers would pay too much, while others would be underinsured.

Unfortunately no storage company could reasonably set aside sufficient funds to cover the loss of an entire storage facility, especially when the contents and their value are unknown and unverified.

This is why insurance exists: to pool risk across many policyholders and provide compensation when needed