Handling Emergencies at an Unmanned Self Storage Facility

Before an emergency: build the plan

An emergency plan for an unmanned self storage facility answers four questions. Who is told? Who decides? Who goes to the site? What do tenants see?

Ready.gov advises businesses to assess what resources are available to stabilize an incident. It also advises coordinating with fire, police and EMS before an emergency happens.^[1] For an unmanned site, that means giving responders a way through the gate and a contact who answers.

If you have employees, OSHA's emergency action plan rule applies. It lists minimum elements, including how to report fires and other emergencies, evacuation procedures, and the name or job title of a contact person.^[2] Employers with 10 or fewer employees may communicate the plan orally.^[2] This is general information, not legal advice.

Contact and response setup

1. Post emergency information. At the gate, office door, keypad and website. Tell tenants to call 911 first for any danger to people.
2. Set an on-call rota. Name a primary and a backup for every hour the site is open.
3. Route alerts. Send fire, intrusion, water and offline alerts to the on-call person, not only to email.
4. Name a local responder. Someone who can reach the site within a set time and meet emergency services.
5. Give responders access. Arrange gate access with your local fire department and police. Many gates support emergency access devices; ask your gate vendor and fire department what they use.
6. Keep a contact sheet. Utilities, gate and camera vendors, locksmith, insurer, restoration company and the owner.
7. Know the remote controls. Who can hold the gate open, lock it down or suspend codes, and how.

Step-by-step flows by emergency type

These flows are a starting point. Adjust them with your local fire department, insurer and vendors.

Fire or smoke

1. Confirm 911 has been called. If an alert or camera shows fire and nobody has called, call 911 yourself and give the full address.
2. Tell anyone on site, by phone or intercom if available, to leave and not to go back for belongings. Ready.gov advises leaving and calling 911 or the fire department if you cannot reach someone who needs help.^[3]
3. Hold the gate open for fire crews if your plan and the fire department agree. Otherwise confirm their access method works.
4. Send the local responder to meet crews at the entrance. They should not enter buildings.
5. Suspend new rentals and move-ins online for the affected site.
6. Save camera footage and access logs from before and during the event.
7. Notify your insurer, then affected tenants once the fire department releases information.

Break-in or intrusion in progress

1. Call 911. Report what the cameras show, and where.
2. Do not send staff or tenants to confront anyone.
3. Keep watching live cameras and relay updates to police.
4. Lock the gate or suspend specific codes only if police agree it is safe.
5. Save footage and access logs. Note which codes were used.
6. After police leave, have a person check and secure damaged units and locks.
7. Notify affected tenants and your insurer. Follow your lease terms on notification.

Medical emergency or person in distress

1. Tell the caller to call 911, or call 911 for them with the address and location on site.
2. Hold the gate open or confirm EMS access.
3. Stay on the line with the caller until help arrives if you can.
4. Send the local responder to guide EMS if it will help, without delaying 911.
5. Record the time, people involved and actions taken. Notify your insurer as your policy requires.

Power outage

1. Check whether the outage is local by contacting the utility.
2. Confirm what the gate does without power: fail open, fail closed or run on battery.
3. Tell tenants by text and post a website notice explaining access arrangements.
4. If a generator is used, place it outdoors and away from doors and windows. Ready.gov gives this advice and warns of carbon monoxide.^[4]
5. After power returns, check that the gate, cameras, network and locks are back online.
6. Review access logs for the outage period.

Gate or access system failure

1. Confirm the fault using the gate system's status and cameras.
2. Decide whether to hold the gate open with monitoring, or keep it shut until repaired.
3. Call the gate vendor or technician, and log the ticket number.
4. Message tenants with the expected repair time and how to get access in the meantime.
5. Make sure emergency services can still enter.
6. After repair, test with a test code and check that delinquent lockouts still work.

Flooding, leaks and severe weather

1. Watch weather alerts for your area. Prepare before storms, freezes or heat.
2. For an active leak or flood, call the restoration vendor and, if there is danger, 911.
3. Shut off water or power only if a trained person can do it safely.
4. Close the site to tenants if conditions are unsafe, and tell them why.
5. After the event, inspect units, document damage with photos and notify the insurer.
6. Tell affected tenants what you found and what they should do next.

What tenants see

Tenants should know where to find help before anything happens. Include emergency contact steps in the lease, the move-in message and at the gate.

During an event, keep messages short and factual. Say what happened, what tenants should do, and when you will update them. Avoid sharing details about other tenants or ongoing police matters.

Systems that need backups

• Internet: a backup connection so cameras and the gate stay reachable.
• Power: battery backup for the gate controller, network and recorder.
• Alerts: more than one recipient, and more than one channel.
• Records: footage stored off site or in the cloud, so it survives damage on site.
• Contacts: a printed and a digital copy of the contact sheet.

The gate access comparison covers how different gate systems behave offline.

Practising the plan

Ready.gov advises training people so they can carry out their roles, and running exercises to find gaps.^[1]

1. Walk through each flow with the on-call team as a desk exercise.
2. Send a test alert and time how long the on-call person takes to respond.
3. Have the local responder drive to the site and confirm their gate access.
4. Test remote gate controls and the backup internet connection.
5. Update the plan and contact sheet after every test and every real event.

Daily checks catch many problems early. Use the remote monitoring checklist alongside this plan, and see the unmanned facility guide for the wider setup.

After-hours calls are often the first sign of an emergency. Decide how they are answered; AI call answering for self storage facilities covers when a call must go to a person.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Emergency Response Plan, Ready.gov, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (accessed October 24, 2026)
2. 29 CFR § 1910.38 – Emergency action plans, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (accessed October 24, 2026)
3. Home Fires, Ready.gov, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (accessed October 24, 2026)
4. Power Outages, Ready.gov, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (accessed October 24, 2026)