Fire in UPS equipment at Telekom Malaysia IT complex in Cyberjaya

What happened

On the evening of 3 January 2022, a fire affected the Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) equipment at the Telekom Malaysia (TM) IT Complex in Cyberjaya. TM said the fire led to a nationwide disruption of its Unifi TV service from about 9.50pm. The Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia (Bomba) took control of the fire. TM received building assessment and clearance from the fire department at 4am on 4 January.

At the time, the building block was not in full operation and only a small number of employees were on site. No injuries were reported. TM worked with contractors and engineering teams to restore service, targeting 3pm on 4 January. The TMpoint branch in Cyberjaya stayed closed because of low power supply.

Contributing factors

The source does not establish the cause of the fire, which was still being investigated when reported. The building block was not in full operation and only a small number of staff were on site at the time. The TMpoint branch in Cyberjaya stayed closed because of low power supply after the event.

Lessons learned

1. UPS rooms and battery systems supporting critical telecoms and IT services need fire detection, suppression and regular inspection, since a single UPS fault can disrupt a national service.
2. Operators should plan for a fire brigade assessment and clearance period before engineers can safely restore power and systems.
3. Restoration plans should prioritise the safety of employees and contractors and communicate expected service restoration times to customers and staff, including on-site branches affected by low power.

More lessons on detection and monitoring, fire suppression and firefighting, worker safety and safe systems of work, from every incident on the register.

Source

malaymail.com