Fatal smoke inhalation after server explosion at Cyber 1 data centre

What happened

A fire broke out at the Cyber 1 data centre in Mampang, South Jakarta, Indonesia, when servers exploded on the second floor. Thick smoke filled the building. The Jakarta Fire Service responded with 22 fire trucks and 100 firefighters and brought the fire under control within half an hour. Three people were trapped; two died from smoke inhalation. One death occurred on site and the second occurred on the way to hospital.

The fire caused a temporary power outage affecting several IT services, including mobile phone registration and other digital platforms. Government data stored elsewhere in the building was reported as unaffected. An earlier fire had occurred in the same building in 2015.

Contributing factors

The cause has not been definitively established. A short circuit was suggested as a possible factor, and smoking was ruled out.

Lessons learned

1. Server rooms need early smoke detection and a clear escape route, because smoke rather than flame can kill occupants within minutes.
2. Operators on other floors should have a rehearsed plan to isolate power and check equipment after a fire above or below them.
3. Until an inspection reports, treat a server-room fire as an electrical event of unknown cause and do not assume a single trigger.

Source

datacenterdynamics.com