Fire hits mini-storage business at Orangeburg and Claus in Modesto

Contents in dozens of units suffered smoke damage when fire erupted at a self-storage business at East Orangeburg Avenue and Claus Road on Wednesday morning.

At about 6 a.m., a passing driver called 911 to report heavy smoke coming from Orangeburg Mini Storage on the 300 block. Police were first on scene, saw fire within the complex of storage units and managed to open the gate to give firefighters access, Modesto Fire Department Battalion Chief Andrew Hunter said.

Nine crews from Modesto and the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District responded, shutting down traffic on Orangeburg just west of Claus. The first fire crew discovered two or three storage units on fire and several more threatened, Hunter said at the scene. Later in the day, he said the contents of three or four units burned.

The storage facility did not have a fire-suppression sprinkler system, the battalion chief said. It was not required at the time Orangeburg Mini Storage was built.

Storage facilities are a unique challenge, Hunter said, because they have so much fuel in a compact space. Firefighters worked quickly, using rotary saws to cut locks and cut open doors. They knocked down the fire in about 30 minutes, he said.

Hunter estimated that contents in as many as 30 units were damaged by smoke. Water used to extinguish the fire also damaged contents.

Structural damage to Orangeburg Mini Storage was estimated by the Fire Department at $30,000. There was no estimate Thursday on damage to renters’ contents.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation Wednesday afternoon.

This story was originally published October 24, 2018 at 8:50 AM.