A HUGE blaze ripped through Self Storage Tameside on Sunday, February 21 and the cost to members of the public may be incalculable.
Dylan Longmate, from Hattersley, dashed to the self-storage units after being alerted to what was unfolding.
And he faces an anxious wait before discovering if priceless family heirlooms have been destroyed.
Dylan said: “Luckily the unit where I have things stored hasn’t been destroyed, but it is only 25 yards from where the blaze was.
“My things were stored in cardboard boxes so they may have been damaged by smoke or water from the sprinkler system.”
Dylan explained when his grandmother Karen Jackson died in December 2019, he cleared the house and put the contents into storage.
He continued: “There were many sentimental things, my great-grandfather John Stopford’s medals from the First World War, the porcelain dolls my nana passed down to my mum, photo albums and drawings we did as kids – something you cannot put a price on.
“When I upgrade my house, the plan was to have extra room for me to be able to have my nana’s things in my home.”
Dylan added fortunately some of his grandmother’s belongings are stored in a shed at his home. He had intended to put them into storage but had never got round to moving them.
When he went down to the storage units on Sunday as the blaze raged, Dylan was joined by other worried customers.
He said: “There were about 15 of us and some of their stories were heartbreaking.
“There was one person who had £100,000 of clothing stored there.
“I heard about people made homeless during the pandemic and who had put their belongings temporarily into storage.
“From what I was hearing, a lot of people look to have lost everything they had.”
Dylan praised the work of the firefighters in tackling the blaze and the work of the police as nearby homes were temporarily evacuated and others were warned to keep windows and doors shut. The adjoining M67 motorway and A57 were shut.
Seven fire engines and two aerial appliances from across Greater Manchester attended after they had been alerted about 1.15pm on Sunday, February 21. They remained overnight to monitor the incident and ensure the fire was fully extinguished.
When the blaze was at its height, explosions could be heard at the scene.
Area manager Stewart Forshaw praised the “tireless and professional work” of the firefighters.
He also thanked the local community for their support and co-operation on what was a difficult day.
Crews from North West Ambulance Service were also on hand to assist.
The business issued the following statement: “In relation to the ongoing situation and the fire at our Self Storage Tameside site, we would like to take a moment to update our valued customers with what information we have available to us at this moment in time.
“To our knowledge, we believe the fire has only impacted one of several buildings we have on-site and not the whole facility.
“For those customers affected by this, we will be in touch as soon as we can with an update as and when we get more information.
“As this is a live and unfolding situation it may take some time but we will be in touch as soon as we know more.
“We would like to ask that for your own safety you do not attempt to gain access to the site as the area is currently closed off while Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service deal with the ongoing situation.
“We extend our gratitude to the emergency services who are on site working hard to bring the situation under control.
“We thank you for your continued understanding and will be in touch soon.”