Fire reported at an Amazon data centre site in Jerome Township, Ohio

What happened

In April 2025, a two-alarm fire at an Amazon data centre site on Industrial Parkway in Jerome Township, Ohio, was reported to have occupied firefighters for about 30 hours and caused an estimated $50 million in damage. The same secondary report says two Amazon data centres under construction in the township had generated 84 emergency calls since 2021, often with a lights-and-sirens response, and that facility security can hold crews at the gate for up to an hour while entry is authorised. What burned, whether anyone was hurt, and how many of the calls were fires are not stated.

Contributing factors

The report says crews can be delayed at the gate, and it describes wider concerns that operators may withhold on-site power plant plans and that local services fund responses despite tax abatements. None of this is confirmed as a cause of the April 2025 fire.

Lessons learned

1. Agree site access with the fire service before an emergency, including out of hours.
2. Share enough layout and hazard information for crews to plan a response.
3. Match local training and equipment to the hazards expected at a large data centre, including electrical plant.

Source

yahoo.com