Between 12 and 14 storage units affected in early Monday Boulder fire

A total of 102 storage units have reportedly been damaged in a fire that broke out early Monday morning.

According to Boulder police responder Dionne Waugh, at 1:09 am crews were called to a storage facility in the 5800 block of Arapahoe Avenue on a second-alarm structure fire. Waugh wrote that 14 units were damaged by fire and an additional 88 units were damaged by smoke and fire suppression.

Waugh wrote in an email that the cause remains under investigation.

According to posts on X by Boulder Fire-Rescue, Arapahoe Avenue between 55th Street and Cherryvale Road was closed due to the fire from about 2 am to about 6:48 am Monday. There were no injuries as a result of the fire, authorities reported.

Waugh said all the units that suffered from fire damage had belongings in them, including one being “packed to the brim.” Of the 88 damaged units, about 20 were empty, the rest has household items and three units had cars, according to Waugh.

Waugh wrote that the storage company is working on notifying the people who owned the units that were damaged.

Boulder Fire-Rescue reported that 45 people were called to the scene. As of 5:33 am, there was one unit still on fire, according to a post on X.

Just before 7 am, the department posted that crews could be expected on the scene for a few more hours as they waited for some special equipment to assist with full extinguishment. Waugh explained the special equipment includes, a remote-controlled mini dozer to help crews remove items out of the units, a small dozer used to push stuff out of the units, an excavator and a skid steer.

“A lot of the storage units were smoldering so we used the dozer to push through and put fire out on the other side as part of overhaul. We're grateful to our colleagues at the city's Transportation and Utilities departments who brought this special equipment to the scene for us to use,” Waugh wrote.

Assisting agencies included Boulder Fire-Rescue, Louisville and Lafayette fire battalion chiefs and a Mountain View Fire Rescue engine. While crews responded to the fire, Boulder Rural and Mountain View Fire Rescue covered calls in the city.

Originally Published: August 26, 2024 at 8:18 am