Tenants Retrieve Contents From Quake-Damaged Napa Self Storage

Update 11/11/15 – Displaced tenants of Napa Self Storage have begun retrieving their belongings from earthquake-damaged Building 900, ending more than a year of waiting. Crews stabilized the structure with exterior bracing and inserted about a dozen wooden columns on the interior to support two steel I-beams that were threaded through the building, according to the source.

A hole was also cut into the side of the second story. Units on the upper floor were less damaged than those on the ground floor, the source reported. Crews began emptying units last week.

Tenants who have retrieved belongings expressed relief and reported little visible damage to personal items. “It’s been a long year,” tenant Vicki Hart told the source. “[The damage isn’t] as bad as I thought it’d be. I’m very fortunate.” She plans to keep another unit she has in another building at the storage facility.

“We are so happy,” fellow tenant Nini Keelan said. “It’s been so long. I never thought I’d see [my belongings] again.”

Damage inside the structure was extensive. A metal staircase to the second floor was twisted and partly lifted from the ground, while portions of “interior metal walls were crumpled like aluminum foil,” the source reported. Some walls bulged outward, and the door to a large unit had folded inside its frame.

Tenant committee organizer Jennefer Keller told the source she was glad the retrieval project was finally underway. “There were many moments where it seemed like this outcome was never going to arrive, and yet, here we are,” she said. “After hearing so many difficult stories of loss and hardships within our group, the fact that we will all be reunited with our contents makes me just delighted.”

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8/26/15 – Displaced tenants of Napa Self Storage, whose belongings have been trapped inside earthquake-damaged Building 900 for more than a year, have raised enough money to stabilize the structure and will finally be able to recover their property. Customers should be able to retrieve items in about two months, according to the source.

The self-storage company increased its pledge from $15,000 to $39,000 toward the recovery costs. A $25,000 grant from the Napa Valley Community Relief Fund will also be allocated toward the salvage project, the source reported.

It’s unclear how much money was raised through tenant contributions and community donations. The GoFundMe.com donation page, set up by tenants in an effort to raise $55,000, indicates just $2,651 toward the goal. Several other fundraising efforts were also initiated to raise money. The estimated cost for recovery was $167,000.

Although tenants were initially told they wouldn’t be allowed to recover belongings unless they paid their share, enough money was raised to ensure all tenants with property inside Building 900 will be able to participate in the salvage effort, the source reported.

"Napa Self Storage will have spent a full year with this recovery as our primary objective,” company officials told the source. “The reward will be to see our tenants successfully reunited with their property.”

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4/1/15 – Tenants who have been unable to recover belongings trapped inside Building 900 at Napa Self Storage following the earthquake that damaged the facility last August have begun to raise money to help pay for the salvage project. Tenants were informed by the storage company in January that they would have to pay the majority of the $167,000 needed to safely retrieve property or the structure would be demolished with contents still inside, according to the source.

In February, tenants launched a donation page on GoFundMe.com in an effort to raise $55,000. As of Wednesday, 29 people have donated $2,156 to the cause. RMB Management Inc., the property-management company that co-owns Napa Self Storage, has pledged $15,000 toward the recovery effort, the source reported.

In addition, the self-storage operator may receive a $25,000 grant from the Napa Valley Community Relief Fund to help offset earthquake-related losses. However, tenants contend this money wouldn’t be used toward the recovery project, according to the source.

Meanwhile, tenant Rob Frias has printed more than 120 T-shirts he hopes will raise awareness around the tenants’ struggle to recover their belongings. The shirts display the phrases “We Need Help,” “Earthquake Storage Refugees,” and “NSS Tenants 900 Bldg.” Frias, 39, is selling the shirts for $5 and plans to use the proceeds to create more shirts as well as possible donations to the GoFundMe effort, the source reported.

“This isn’t about me,” Frias told the source. “My 5-by-10 unit is pennies compared to what these other people have. Some people have been there for 15 years.”

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12/31/14 – Napa Mayor Jill Techel has agreed to see if the city’s earthquake-relief fund can help Napa Self Storage tenants recover belongings trapped inside Building 900, which was red-tagged following the 6.0-magnitude earthquake that damaged the facility in August. Tenants affected by the quake met recently after they were angered by a letter from the storage business informing them they would have to help pay to retrieve belongings, according to a report by ABC 7 News.

"We can spend a lot of time arguing over who should pay for this," said Techel, who attended the tenant meeting. "I'd rather have our focus be on how quickly we can get their stuff out of there."

The letter and accompanying questionnaire sent to tenants estimated the cost to retrieve items with the help of a specialty company at $700 to $2,000 per tenant, the source reported. An unidentified tenant likened the attempt to have renters pay recovery fees to “extortion” and “ransom.”

"The fact that their building did not stand up is their problem," said tenant Sara Henry. "We need to have access to our belongings."

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12/5/14 – RMB Management Inc., the property management company that co-owns Napa Self Storage, is expected to file its plan to brace Building 900 with Napa, Calif., officials by Dec. 8. The city has said it will make reviewing the plan a priority and could give the go ahead for specialty crews to retrieve tenant belongings by mid-December, according to the source.

The two-story structure received extensive damage from the Aug. 24 earthquake and was subsequently red-tagged by the city due to structural instability, prohibiting entry. It contains 230 storage units.

Depending on the complexity of the bracing-and-shoring plan submitted by RMB, officials are hopeful they will be able to complete their review in less than two weeks. City Manager Mike Parness told the city council that recovery efforts would begin by securing the second floor from below to allow first-floor contents to be removed first. An engineering plan would then determine how to clear contents from the top floor, according to the source.

Parness warned tenants and the council that some property may need to be left behind. Some bracing that extends into hallways would likely prevent the removal of furniture and other heavy or large items, he said.

The city manager also encouraged tenants to file earthquake-damage claims with the Federal Emergency Management Agency before the filing deadline of Dec. 29 and assume a total loss of property.

Council member Peter Mott said few tenants are able to provide a complete inventory of their unit contents. “My fear is people won’t know what [level of] damage there is until they can get their stuff,” he said.

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9/23/14 – Napa Self Storage in Napa, Calif., was among dozens of businesses and residences heavily damaged by a 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck the region on Aug. 24. The business may have to demolish one of its storage buildings, based on findings by city engineers and other professionals contracted by the company owners to inspect the site at 473 Walnut St., according to the “Napa Valley Register.”

Building 900, a two-story structure containing 230 storage units, has been red-tagged by officials due to structural instability, prohibiting entry and trapping tenant property inside, the source reported.

Miranda Evans, a spokesperson for RMB Management Inc., a self-storage property management company that co-owns the facility, said the owners have made it a priority to search for a solution that will enable tenants to recover their belongings. “It’s all so overwhelming for everybody,” she told the source. “A lot of people have their whole lives in there.”

The business is trying to determine if the building can be stabilized long enough to recover unit contents or if it will have to be demolished with tenant property locked inside. “Two [engineers] have said it needs to be demolished,” Evans said. “We’ve even spoken about the possibility of removing it piece by piece, from the top down.” It’s not known if deconstruction would work or cause further damage or a full collapse, she told the source.

The structure was built around 1994 and constructed of steel beams, concrete flooring and corrugated sheet metal, the source reported.

According to a letter to the editor published Sept. 22 by the “Napa Valley Register,” tenant Keith Myron said several units at the facility were marked with yellow tags designating limited access, while Building 900, where his unit is located, was marked with a red tag, prohibiting access. According to Myron, the facility manager told him a decision had not been made regarding the status of Building 900 but indicated it could be demolished.

“We then went to view the building and saw the devastating damage done by the earthquake,” Myron wrote. “It appears to list at about 30 degrees from vertical. A cyclone fence with padlocks has been placed in front of this building to prevent access.”

Myron’s letter criticizes the way the self-storage company has handled the aftermath of the quake. Among Myron’s complaints were a lack of communication to tenants whose units had been impacted and the prospect that Building 900 could be demolished without tenants being able to recover their property.

“We request others with storage units in Building 900 to come forward and formally request, as we do now, that the owners of Napa Self Storage choose to stabilize Building 900 sufficiently to allow safe access to those who wish to attempt recovery of their unit contents prior to the eventual building demolition,” Myron wrote.

Napa County officials have attributed economic losses of $362.4 million to the earthquake, according to Earthquake-Report.com, a website that aggregates news and information related to earthquakes and volcanoes. News reports have said nearly $50 million in damage was sustained by local wineries and agriculture.

As of Sept. 3, more than 100 houses had been marked with red tags and another 500 affixed with yellow tags, according to Earthquake-Report.com.