Fire Rescue News - Investigator says Egg Harbor Township storage unit fire started accidentally

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP - Investigators said they believe a fire that ripped through multiple storage units started accidentally when their contents overheated and were ignited by flammable cleaning solvent used to wash adjacent units.

The investigation has not yet concluded, Egg Harbor Township Fire Official Donald Stauffer said Wednesday.

But authorities now believe cleaning fluid used by workers at the Storage Inn might have ignited items.......Continued Reading 

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that overheated Monday in a storage cube as the temperature reached a peak of 81 degrees at the compound in the 2500 block of Fire Road in the township's Farmington section, according to Stauffer and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"Those things are like being in a tin can," Stauffer said. "When the sun's out and it's hot in the first place, and when you pack things tight, they heat. And then, introducing a flammable substance into that condition, you can accelerate the self-heating."

Storage facility workers had been using a solution containing denatured alcohol to wash the building on the opposite side from where the fire started.

Stauffer is investigating whether another cleanser could have prevented the fire.

"It probably seeped through the walls because nothing is watertight or airtight in there," Stauffer said.

Walls separating the units do not reach all the way to the ceiling, which also allowed the fire to spread unchecked to a dozen units within the 45 minutes it took firefighters to contain it.

None of the damaged units are among the 50 of about 900 on site available to customers who want theirs climate controlled, facility owner Greg Meckel said.

Meckel said Wednesday he has tripled his staff to address the fallout from the fire. Workers are helping clients clean and move their items. Meckel also has arranged for an adjuster to visit the site to assess damage, he said.

"We're just trying to work with everybody," he said.

Stauffer deferred damage estimates to police, who did not respond to calls or e-mails for comment.

Contact Emily Previti:  609-272-7221  EPreviti@pressofac.com