LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Arson Task Force is leading the investigation into a Friday morning fire that destroyed dozens of units at a Lakeport mini storage facility.
Resources from several local fire agencies were on the scene of the incident – which occurred at M&M Mini Storage at 4285 Lakeshore Blvd. – for much of the day.
John Marino, who owns the facility, estimated that three-quarters of his 82 storage units and their contents were destroyed by the fire.
Marino said the fire consumed many irreplaceable family heirlooms, along with a number of cars and boats.
“For me, personally, my heart breaks for all my tenants,” he said.
Lakeport Fire Capt. Bob Ray said the fire was dispatched shortly before 5 a.m.
“It was pretty well involved by the time we got the call,” he said, noting that firefighters en route could see the fire – which already had gone through the mini storage's roof – glowing in the distance.
Ray said the fire started somewhere near the center of the units and burned both directions along the length of the building.
Lakeport Fire and Kelseyville Fire initially responded, with Northshore Fire sending units from its Nice and Upper Lake stations, Ray said.
There were a total of eight engines, a ladder truck and five chief officers who worked the incident, Ray said.
Ray said incident command also requested a response from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife due to concerns about runoff possibly making its way into nearby drainages and, then, Clear Lake.
“We were able to mitigate that,” Ray said.
Lake County Environmental Health and Public Works also responded, with the Lake County Sheriff's Office sending units for traffic control, Ray said.
Although the units did not have electricity, Ray said Pacific Gas and Electric was on scene due to power lines for nearby residences being close to the fire.
Ray said it took about two hours to control the fire, with units remaining on scene for several hours more to deal with small pockets of burning debris.
He and several of the units and firefighters were relieved by day staff at around noon, while Lakeport Fire Chief Doug Hutchison and other personnel remained at the location until about 3 p.m., when the incident was finally terminated.
Ray said there currently is no estimate of total damages, as fire officials don't know everything that was in the units, which he estimated were about 12 feet by 30 feet, or the size of a one-car garage only deeper.
He said there were boats, classic cars, tools, antiques and a variety of other objects destroyed.
There were reports of acetylene tanks and ammunition in some of the units. Ray said there were some loud explosions but he didn't know the exact source.
Ray said the Lake County Arson Task Force is investigating.
“We don't have a cause yet,” he said, adding he wasn't sure how long it would take investigators to reach a conclusion. “It will be a while.”
He said the mini storage was typical in that it didn't have electricity, “So that kind of eliminates electrical as being the cause.”
The odd time of day – before 5 a.m., when people aren't normally coming and going from such a facility – has raised questions about the fire's potential cause, Ray said.
Marino, a former Lakeport planning commissioner, has owned M&M Mini Storage for nine years, buying it in poor condition – he said it had been a “dump” – and fixing it up. Along the way, he said he became friends with all of his tenants.
Over the years they've told him stories about the possessions they kept there – such as a rocking chair owned by grandmother that had been used to rock the family's babies to sleep – to other valued antiques.
On Friday, Marino said he heard even more of those stories as people recounted the histories of their lost treasures.
While Marino said it's easy for him to rebuild his business, what his tenants have lost can't be so easily replaced, adding it was “devastating for a lot of people.”
Speaking as he was leaving the business late Friday afternoon, Marino's voice broke, and he noted that he couldn't remember the last time he had cried.
He said he was trying to process what had happened and all of the stories he had heard, set against the backdrop of the holiday season.
“It's been a long day,” he said.
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