Google’s Omaha data center bursts, creating disruptions
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Google’s Omaha data center bursts, creating disruptions

A tiny piece of a Google data center in western Iowa burst late Monday night, hurting employees and disrupting several of Google’s most popular services, including Gmail, YouTube, and the Google search engine.

Three workers were injured in the explosion at the data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, according to local authorities.

“Three employees were accessing an electrical cabinet when an arc flash occurred, resulting in all three getting burnt,” Council Bluffs Fire Chief Justin James told CBS MoneyWatch. “Everyone was sent to the trauma hospital for treatment.” Data centers are enormous structures that hold hundreds of supercomputers and servers that are often used to store and analyze information generated by users while using personal computers. Google has 14 data centers in the United States, including one in the Omaha suburb of Papillion, Nebraska.

When a high electrical current goes through a conductor, it skips its intended destination and ends up on the ground, causing an arc flash. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the heat released by an arc flash may reach 35,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

According to Council Bluffs Fire Department assistant chief Jim Wood, first responders headed to the Council Bluffs data center about midnight after being notified there was a “big explosion.”

Google did not immediately react to a comment request. According to the company’s official website, the Council Bluffs data center was established in 2007 and presently employs more than 900 employees.

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