Storage unit fire raises awareness on dangers of living in them
A mattress caught fire and destroys a storage unit over the weekend, law enforcement says it was being illegally inhabited.
WEST FARGO, N.D. (KVRR)- A mattress caught fire and destroys a storage unit over the weekend, law enforcement says it was being illegally inhabited.
The incident is raising awareness to the potential dangers of staying in unsuitable living areas.
“You saw what happened last weekend, yes there is a lot of dangers, people use their space heaters or candles and that’s very dangerous, as it happened last Saturday, inside a storage unit where a mattress caught on fire and half the storage complex is destroyed from that,” said LT Jason Dura, West Fargo Police
“Think of the storage that you have in your storage unit, it’s usually stacked to the roof, a lot of cardboard, maybe a mattress maybe some old combustibles that could be in there. A lot of people like to stack them really full so the fire has more coverage and has more to burn in a smaller area,” said Travis Olson, West Fargo Fire Community Risk Reduction Officer.
The fire over the weekend has West Fargo fire paying more attention to storage units and abandoned buildings.
Spaces where people might seek shelter.
“Storage units and even office buildings and things like that, aren’t built or designed for living in that’s why apartments and houses are built to a certain code and storage units they don’t have the proper insulation for the cold or the heat. They also don’t have smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, they don’t have proper doors,” said Olson.
Beth Olson the Housing Navigation Program Director, of Presentation Partners in Housing says
“The only known cure for homelessness is housing. Shelters are essential partners in ending homelessness, but they are not the solution to homelessness, nor is homelessness the sole responsibility of shelters.”
People who are found may face consequences. Law enforcement’s goal is to keep people safe and point them in the right direction for housing resources.
“They could probably be charged with criminal trespassing and we’ll send that to the courts to see if they will charge it out,” said Dura.
“I would just encourage people to obviously only live in a place, a space or an occupancy that is actually designed to be lived in,” said Olson.
