--- title: "First Responders Are Being Overwhelmed by Data Center Fires" description: "First responders in a small Ohio town have answered 84 emergencies between two Amazon data centers, all on the taxpayer's dime." date: "2025-09-28" modified: "2025-09-28" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/future-society/fire-fighters-data-centers" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Ethics" - "Future Society" --- # First Responders Are Being Overwhelmed by Data Center Fires ![First responders in a small Ohio town have answered 84 emergencies between two Amazon data centers, all on the taxpayer's dime.]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images* In the race to dominate the AI industry, tech giants are planting data centers across the US. But for many Americans, silicon valley's cash crop feels more like an invasive species — one which, when it takes root, begins to overwhelm everything around it. For one thing, the facilities are [incredibly noisy](), their cooling systems likened to a "distant jet that never leaves." Their collective energy demand is so high that they're [driving up utility prices]() throughout the country, in some cases prompting insufferable CEOs to resort to [methane gas generators](), choking local communities with noxious fumes. Their water intake is so enormous that taps in nearby homes can [stop running](), while their excessive [pollution]() has been linked to a [growing cancer risk](). That's before we even get into the [massive financial problem]() with the AI data center gold rush, which in many ways is now holding up the stagnant [US economy](). As if all that weren't enough, one community is now learning about another obnoxious data center trait: their tendency to burst into flames. The fire department in Jerome Township, Ohio, an exurb northwest of Columbus, has grown increasingly annoyed at two Amazon data centers over the last four years. Since the first site was approved by [local officials]() in 2021, first responders have answered a combined 84 emergencies between the two facilities, a rate of about two calls a month, [according to *The* *Columbus Dispatch*](). That's on top of regular safety inspections. Whenever they arrive, fire officials and EMS workers say they're met by [facility security](), who can make them wait as long as an hour for Amazon's authorization to enter (data centers are critical to [US national security](), after all.) In April, local news reported a [two-alarm fire]() at one of the facilities, which caused more than $50 million in damages and tied up first responders for over 24 hours. It's a cushy deal for Amazon, which papered in a 100 percent property tax abatement lasting ten years for each site, meaning local residents are fronting the bill every time the fire department goes on a data center run. "That taxes our resources every time we go," the township's fire chief, Douglas Stewart said. Jerome Township isn't alone. In 2025, Amazon had 56 data centers planned or in operation throughout Ohio, some of which are on pause following local pushback, [the *Dispatch* reported]() earlier this year. That's just a fraction of the [179 data centers]() Ohio is host to as of this month. The Columbus suburb of Hilliard, for example, has a population of 37,000 residents who are surrounded by three separate [data center campuses](), each of which contains as many as five data centers. Though township residents might object to their tax dollars being drained by, those decisions have already been rubber stamped at the local level — [easy targets]() for deep-pocketed tech corporations. "We're not a huge fan of the data centers, but Hilliard controls economic development, and data centers bring in business," the township's fire chief David Baird told the *Dispatch*. He noted that since the first data center campus [began construction]() in Hilliard circa 2015, they've diverted some $2 million in tax revenue away from the township's emergency services. Since 2020, the data center market has doubled in size. The US built 137 brand new [hyperscale data centers]() — facilities 10,000 square feet or larger — [in 2024 alone](), a number that's expected to rise dramatically as time goes on. All that rapid growth has fueled [global concerns]() over the fire risk inherent to these often hastily constructed facilities, and the question of who pays the cost. **More on data centers:** *[Small Towns Are Rising Up Against AI Data Centers]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()