Storage fire victims go through items

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) - Customers who were devastated by a fire at a Chesapeake storage facility are going through their items for the first time since the fire.

Those with units at Brentwood Self Storage destroyed by fire were contacted by workers to set up appointments to go through their items. Brentwood Self Storage said they have to begin from the end units and work toward the middle.

Vicky Boyd shared a storage unit with three of her friends. They spent the morning going through charred remnants of the fire.

"This is pitiful. Six years and all my stuff is gone," Boyd said.

Boyd said she lost a lifetime of belongings in the storage fires. A lot of her things were blackened and burned. The hardest losses were over the things she won't ever be able to replace, like a bag full of stuffed animals that belonged to her daughter.

"Some of the stuff from my daughter that passed away was in there," Boyd said. "Now all I got is memories of it. All because some man wanted to keep his snake up in there. It's pitiful. It's just sad."

Fire investigators believe the fire was sparked by heat lamps being used to keep several snakes warm in one of the units.

No charges have yet been filed against the person with the snakes.

A friend managed to find Boyd's Redskin collectibles in the wreckage.  Each discovery Boyd made Thursday healed some of her hurt in what she lost and made her grateful her belongings weren't damaged even more.

"We're fortunate that we did get what we got out of it, because some people didn't get anything," Boyd said.

The two-alarm fire sparked Saturday afternoon and burned 32 units, destroying the contents inside. One family lost their Christmas gifts in the blaze.

Anyone with a unit destroyed in the fire is asked to not come by the storage facility without an appointment.

Stay with WAVY.com for more on this developing story.