An electrical explosion on Monday at a Google data center in Iowa has left three people in critical condition with serious burns, according to reports.
“Three electricians who were transported to a local hospital with burn injuries after an arc flash outside a Google data center are now in stable condition,” SFGATE reported.
First responders were dispatched to the data center at 11:59 a.m. in response to reports of an “electrical incident,” Council Bluffs fire department assistant chief Jim Wood told the Omaha World-Herald.
“It was definitely some sort of electrical issue,” Wood said.
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BREAKING: Reports of explosion at Google data center in Iowa
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) August 9, 2022
https://twitter.com/C_M_101/status/1556824450674434048
Two burn victims were taken to a local hospital via ambulance, while one had to be evacuated in a helicopter.
“The full extent of their injuries is unknown; the Council Bluffs Fire Department and Police Department, in addition to the Nebraska Medical Center, don’t have more details to share at this time,” SFGATE added.
“We are aware of an electrical incident that took place yesterday at Google’s data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, injuring three people onsite who are being treated and in stable condition,” said Google spokesperson Devon Smiley.
“The health and safety of all workers is our absolute top priority, and we are working closely with partners and local authorities to thoroughly investigate the situation and provide assistance as needed.”
Google users reported widespread outages on Monday but Google says that was due to a software update issue, and unrelated to the Iowa incident.
🚨#BREAKING: Reports of explosion at Google data center in Iowa
Right now Thousands to million of users where having major issues with the web search service google as it was currently down as reports say an explosion has occurred at Google data center pic.twitter.com/fh9TFGRE9Q
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) August 9, 2022
SFGATE noted:
Google users worldwide reported a brief outage on Monday that affected Gmail, Maps. and Images search, but Google says that was due to a software update issue, and was unrelated to the arc flash incident in Iowa.
“We’re aware of a software update issue that occurred late this afternoon Pacific Time and briefly affected availability of Google Search and Maps, and we apologize for the inconvenience. We worked to quickly address the issue and our services are now back online,” a spokesperson wrote.
Google has 14 data centers in the United States, and 23 in total around the world. The data centers “keep all of Google’s products and services up and running around the clock,” according to the company.
The Council Bluffs location site, first opened in 2009, is one of Google’s largest.
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