An fire broke out at the data center located at 350 East Cermak Road, in the south of Chicago, yesterday afternoon, causing alarm in the tech community. The building, known as the Lakeside Technology Center, is one of the largest data centers in the Midwest of the United States and houses a variety of tech service providers.
According to reports from CBS, firefighters quickly responded to the incident after receiving reports of a fire on a carpet inside the building and on the roof. Images and updates provided by Eric Tendian, a software engineer from Chicago, indicated that the site had switched to backup generators and no injuries had been reported.
Response and Fire Containment
The eight-story building, owned by Digital Realty, has a total area of over 100,000 square meters and provides around 100 megawatts of capacity. The fire, which witnesses say started during a routine generator test, was quickly brought under control. Hot smoke on the roof caused some debris to catch fire, but the blaze was extinguished without further complications.
ColoHouse, one of the building’s tenants, confirmed that the incident occurred during a routine test and that the roof fire resulted in minimal damage. “The engineering team at 350 East Cermak Road reports that all customer loads remain supported and stable. Temporary repairs were made to the roof and the cleaning crew has removed all water from the building,” said a ColoHouse spokesperson.
Building Background
The building, originally known as the RR Donnelley printing plant, was built between 1912 and 1929 to house the operations of the printing company RR Donnelley. Closed in 1993, the site was reopened as a data center in 1999. This data center is recognized as one of the largest in the world and hosts major tech companies such as Equinix, Centersqaure, Colocation America, and ColoHouse.
The size of the building and its critical capacity for data infrastructure make security and stability paramount. Despite the inconvenience, the incident did not affect customers or the data center’s operations, which continue to run normally.
Next Steps
The companies involved and repair teams are assessing the damages and making necessary repairs. Digital Realty, along with the other building operators, will continue monitoring the situation to ensure the data center stays operational.
The incident underscores the importance of safety and maintenance procedures in critical data facilities. As normal operations resume, additional measures are expected to be implemented to prevent future incidents.
Source: DCD and CBS