Three-alarm fire reported at a data centre in Ashburn

What happened

A local news headline reported that a three-alarm fire at a data centre in Ashburn had been brought under control. The article text was not available, so the cause, the equipment involved, any injuries and any effect on operations were not reported.

Contributing factors

Not reported.

Lessons learned

1. Treat a multi-alarm fire at a data centre as a site emergency until it is clear whether batteries, generators, switchgear or other power equipment were involved.
2. Be ready to account for people on site and for backup power if electrical rooms are affected.
3. Do not infer a cause from an early headline; confirm the failed component before changing procedures.

Source

wusa9.com