Firefighters prepare for unique challenges should data centers locate in places like Pekin

PEORIA (25News Now) -As proposals for data centers surface in Central Illinois, including a notable project in Pekin, area firefighters are explaining the different challenges they’ll face trying to put out a data center fire compared to a regular building fire.

They said data centers pose unique challenges for fire departments, whether crews are dealing with the building itself or the back-up power stations filled with lithium-ion batteries.

According to the Normal Firefighters IAFF Local #2442, a typical two-story house fire can take about 30 minutes to two hours to extinguish, not including demolition or clean-up time, with a recommended 15 to 20 firefighters on scene.

Data center fires are said to be far more complex and often require more time, more personnel, and specialized suppression methods. Firefighters said water cannot always be used safely on charged electrical systems because it can create additional hazards. Instead, some facilities rely on clean extinguishing agents designed to suppress flames while minimizing damage to sensitive equipment.

While Normal is not currently a proposed location for a data center, fire officials are highlighting these differences.

“Data systems themselves, they cannot have water applied to them, so it takes clean extinguishing agent systems, which are usually fixed into the facility,” said firefighter and union member Matt Hill.

“It makes a whole bunch of different challenges to just even know that those systems are there, let alone know that they are going to operate when they’re supposed to, who is in charge of operating them, and the facility specialist and subject matter experts to be able to tell us how we’re going to work with them,” Hill said.

He said the length of time required to extinguish a data center can also differ significantly, sometimes taking days to get rid of the fire.

“When you talk about those big facilities that have the mega size computer servers and technology inside of them, they can potentially burn for days, fire intensity at its peak can be hours upon hours,” said Hill.

He also pointed to lithium-ion batteries as another major concern, noting that these are at every data center because of the need to keep the centers up and running for communities.

“Lithium-ion battery technology can spread on thermal runaway, it can last for hours and into days, they can have flare ups. It takes a lot of water and a lot of manpower and it takes a lot of time to make sure that they are extinguished properly and disposed of properly,” said Hill.

Whether data centers are built in Central Illinois or not, firefighters said they are already preparing through pre-planning and specialized training.

Normal firefighters said that the International Association of Firefighters and the Illinois Fire Service Institute hold specialized classes they can attend that address the unique challenges that data centers present to emergency responders.

According to a news article from the International Association of Firefighters in 2025, fire prevention and suppression is a “critical piece of protecting sensitive data stored and distributed out of data centers worldwide,” signaling that data center fires are rare, but they do happen and the best way to keep them as rare occasions is to have protective measures in place.

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