Data centers have the potential for fire and so local fire departments must spend resources being prepared for such a thing.

Edit: water (and sometimes electricity) are local services also and data centers use quite a bit of these.

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AussieWog93 an hour ago | parent [-]

Not a data centre expert, but don't they quite famously pump CO2 into the server rooms automatically if the fire alarms go off, even if there are people in the room?

	▲	dividedbyzero an hour ago \| parent [-]
		That's not always a thing and doesn't help with fires in the rest of the complex. Backup generators, fuel depots, power distribution, large-scale cooling infrastructure all pose fire hazards even when facilities are built with actual regulation. The current AI buildout in the US happens pretty much without any meaningful regulation and gives the impression they'd build unshielded nuclear reactors serviced by children while running if they felt they could get it running cheaper and faster.