Hillsboro Data Center Fire Puts Community On Edge As Elon Musk’s Presence In Community Is Revealed

Fire in Hillsboro Data Center Raises Alarms Over Battery Hazards

By Hillsboro Herald Staff – May 24, 2025 – AI Assisted For Research Purposes Only

While everyone was scrambling to start the holiday, something important in Hillsboro revealed two interesting and concerning things. One, Data Centers have batteries that can burn and be very toxic. They are also nearly impossible to put out.  This adds another negative checkmark to the Data Center +/- chart.  Number two, good old Elon Musk’s servers are humming away here in Hillsboro.  The Herald has learned that Musk and X are discussing making it a requirement/priority to put Tesla Lithium-Ion batteries in the servers at Data Centers they contract with.  Have you ever seen a Tesla burn?  Think that, but scaled up by 1,000 percent.

A Thursday morning blaze at a Hillsboro Technology Park data center – an industrial campus near Portland – left firefighters battling a room of burning batteries for five hours, prompting alarm in the tech industry and the local community. Hillsboro Fire Department Battalion Chief Piseth Pich of Hillsboro Fire & Rescue told local media that firefighters arriving at 10:20 a.m. found “batteries on fire that were contained to one room. The smoke was so thick that they could hardly see.”

Fire crews defied the flames from spreading, effectively letting the battery bank burn itself out; the blaze was declared out by 3:30 p.m. No injuries were reported, and all workers were evacuated safely.

“The cause of the fire remains under investigation,” Pich added, even as industry press reports suggest the fire was linked to a backup-power battery system.

The Hillsboro Herald is specficially following up on this to get clear answers and a risk assessement.

Elon Musk’s social media firm X (formerly Twitter) reportedly leased the Hillsboro facility. Industry and government sources say X’s engineering team “acknowledged” on Friday that the site was suffering a data center outage, as thousands of users around the globe reported login failures and sluggish service. According to Wired and other outlets, the fire was “traced to a room housing lithium batteries” in the X-leased data center. A post from X’s engineering account stated: “X is aware some of our users are experiencing performance issues… We are experiencing a data center outage and the team is actively working to remediate the issue.”

Digital Realty – the landlord of the Hillsboro site – offered only terse updates to news outlets. In a statement to The Oregonian, the company said, “the incident is under control, and the fire department has concluded its on-site response. All personnel were safely evacuated, with no reported injuries.” It also claimed to be “prioritizing the safety of our personnel, the integrity of the facility, and minimizing customer impact.” But Digital Realty declined to confirm whether X occupied the affected building or to offer any explanation for what ignited the fire or how much damage was done inside.

Data Center Batteries Are A Lesser-Known Threat

The Herald has extensively covered Data Centers, so much so that our coverage has been picked up and utilized worldwide. We have questioned the value they offer when viewed through the lens of the negative impacts they bring to any community they show up in.  The benefits are hard to see when considering environmental issues, power rates, water usage, and the monopolization of industrial lands.

Now we have to worry about Battery fires?  Wow.  Experts warn that lithium-ion battery blazes can release a cocktail of toxic emissions far more dangerous than ordinary fires. Data center firefighting specialists note that, unlike a building fire, a battery conflagration can self-intensify and reignite, releasing superheated smoke and toxic gases. Tests of burning Li-ion cells have found they emit hydrogen fluoride and other acidic fluorine gases in prodigious quantities. These gases can scar lungs, burn skin, and even etch glass. Worse, soot and heavy metal particulates from battery fires can drift for miles; scientists have found contamination of cobalt, nickel, manganese, and other toxic metals around large battery storage sites.

The impact of this blaze on local health is still uncertain. Although the smoke was mostly contained inside the building, some fumes inevitably leaked out while crews cooled the batteries. Emergency officials urged anyone in the immediate area to stay indoors with windows shut and air filters running. Following the Moss Landing battery fire in California, environmental tests found metals in nearby soil at “100 to 1,000 times higher than normal,” and residents reported skin, eye, and respiratory issues. In Oregon, no such tests or disclosures have yet been made.

The incident has renewed questions about where such data centers should be located and regulated. Hillsboro’s Tech Park is zoned commercial/industrial but only a mile from residences and schools. Many cities now mandate that hyperscale data facilities remain in industrial zones and offset their heavy power and water use, yet a chemical fire can threaten any downwind neighborhood. Local experts urge that data center approvals include emergency plans for battery hazards and that fire departments be consulted in advance. These backup systems are essentially invisible fuel loads that can ignite under stress.  Let’s not forget that Top Golf, Liberty High School, and the Hillsboro Hops Stadium / Gordon Faber Recreational Complex are all downwind and nearby to this very facility, not to mention scores of others, which you can find here on the map we have been working on to track all Data Centers in Hillsboro.  https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1TYa6DHruK0OpofkzjCOqxTMRahlA8GMr&usp=sharing

At stake is public trust: will companies and regulators treat human health and the environment as first priorities? So far, Digital Realty’s only public words have been platitudes about safety and minimal customer impact, and Musk’s X has let its outage statements speak for themselves. Absent independent inspection or government comment, neighbors are left unsure of what chemicals were released or absorbed. In the words of environmental advocates, after earlier battery disasters, communities “will not stand by while families breathe in toxic air and worry about long-term health effects.”

Hillsboro officials say the fire is out and life is returning to normal. Still, experts warn the chemical risks from burnt batteries can linger, and demand a far more rigorous accounting for human and environmental safety in data center planning and oversight.