Some Coloradans are waiting to find out if their priceless memories were destroyed in a large fire on Tuesday morning. The blaze started after daybreak at a storage facility in Arvada, and renters of the units came to the scene to survey the damage while it was still smoldering.
Renter Russell Bresky hurried to StorQuest Self Storage and said he was told it might be a day or two before he is able to go in and survey the damage.
“It’s like burned. All burned. I just hope that my unit for the most part is okay, but I’m literally not having any high hopes,” said Bresky.
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Bresky is in the middle of a move from one home to another.
“We move into our house on the 10th,” he said. “I literally was going to come on the 12th to my unit to empty it.”
Carole Walker, Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Association, told CBS Colorado that most homeowners and renters insurance companies do cover storage units and their contents but the devil may be in the details.
“You do have coverage the question will be how much because you have limits on your contents coverage and what is the value of what I’m storing in this storage unit?” Walker explained. “Some insurance companies put a lower limit on for off-premises belongings.”
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He had tools, valuable comic books and shelving in his unit.
“I had a bunch of my fiance’s paintings in there when she first started painting,” Bresky said.
Investigators are still working to determine how many storage units at StorQuest were damaged. The facility is located just west of Wadsworth Boulevard in the western part of the Denver metro area.
Firefighters had a tough time putting the blaze out. It spread across the roof above many of the units. While smoke was pouring out of the building first responders opened the doors of the units in an attempt to save the items inside.
So far it’s not clear how the fire started. Two firefighters sustained minor injuries in the firefight, which lasted for several hours.
Alice J. Roden started working for Trending Insurance News at the end of 2021. Alice grew up in Salt Lake City, UT. A writer with a vast insurance industry background Alice has help with several of the biggest insurance companies. Before joining Trending Insurance News, Alice briefly worked as a freelance journalist for several radio stations. She covers home, renters and other property insurance stories.