On the evening of Aug. 11, Paula Hubbard received a phone call from her kids telling her that American Self Storage was on fire.
The fire, which filled the immediate area with clouds of black smoke, started around 7:40 p.m. and was out in about an hour. It didn’t touch Hubbard’s living quarters, although American Self Storage was out of business for the next six months. But now it’s back in business, having celebrated its grand re-opening on March 3.
The business specializes in selling temporary storage space for boats, recreational vehicles (RV), and small personal units. Fire investigators told Hubbard that the fire might have originated in one of the RVs, which sat inside a three-sided brick building with metal roofing.
Because of this, Hubbard said, the building acted like a brick oven. It became so hot, that she said the heat melted lights and smoke damaged anything else not touched by the flames.
In all, Hubbard said the fire damaged 19 RVs and caused a “couple of million” dollars in damage.
“It literally looked like a war zone,” Hubbard told the Sun.
In order to rebuild, the damaged portion first had to be demolished. All of the RVs had to be towed out, even the ones that weren’t damaged.
No one was hurt, but it was a very emotional time for Hubbard. Not only is American Self Storage her place of employment, but it’s also where she lives. She’s a resident manager, meaning she lives where she works. It’s a typical setup for this type of business.
“I live on site,” Hubbard said. “A lot of self-storage facilities offer a home for the manager to live in.”
During construction, she neither had to relocate nor was she out of work. After it was all said and done, it looked like there had never been a fire.
“They restored it back to what it was before the fire,” Hubbard said. “Everything looked like nothing ever happened here.”
The rebuild came with a couple of upgrades: some new landscaping and an Opticom gate device, which is a remote entry receiver that automatically opens the gate for fire trucks.
It was a condition for getting the business’ certificate of occupancy, Hubbard said, adding that it’s only temporary for now.
As far as the customers go, Hubbard said most of those who lost RVs purchased new ones and re-parked them at the storage facility. Only a few of them decided not to repurchase storage, she said.
“It’s a very good feeling to be finally finished,” Hubbard said. “It was a huge process.”
American Self Storage is back in business and located at 3040 Skyway Drive in Santa Maria. Call 922-2322 for more information, or visit stormystuff.com/storage-locations/santa-maria-storage-facility.
Staff Writer David Minsky wrote this week’s Biz Spotlight. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, email, or mail.
This article appears in Mar 10-17, 2016.