A number of people who lost their possessions in a fire in a west-end storage facility are preparing to file a class-action lawsuit.

The fire destroyed Save and Secure Self Storage on Jan. 7, 2012.

The fire wasn't put out for days.

Aires Whytton da Silva was in the process of moving to a new home. He showed up to retrieve his things only to find out that all of his belongings were gone.

Da Silva has now become the face of a lawsuit filed against the owners Allsecure Storage Inc., seeking damages that could exceed $10 million.

The class action suit has not been certified and none of the allegation have been proved in court.

But the lawsuit claims the defendants failed to ensure the facility was free of illegal activity, that it was using space heaters with electrical cords running through the hallways.

That information, the complainants says, came from the Fire Marshal's report. That report has not yet been made public.

Other court documents show that the city charged the owners with failing to maintain their sprinkler system, which was not working when the fire broke out.

Da Silva's lawyer says the company pleaded guilty to that charge.

"All we want to do — myself and the other tenants in this lawsuit — is to recoup what we lost," said da Silva.