Authorities: Digital Realty Data Center Fire Began In Schneider Electric Cabinet, But Cause ‘Undetermined’

The May 22 blaze began inside a Galaxy VX 250kVA 400/480V Power Cabinet, a fire department investigation found. It resulted in no injuries and was contained to one room but caused $250,000 in damage to Digital Realty’s data center in Hillsboro, Ore.

The first firefighters on scene at a May 22 Hillsboro, Ore., blaze that began in a Schneider Electric power cabinet at a Digital Realty data center were met with the pop of explosions behind a double door, according to a fire investigation report that CRN obtained via a public records request.

The firefighters then battled against a wall of smoke and flames behind the door, according to the report.

However, months later, a fire department investigation could not determine what sparked the blaze on the second floor of the data center, which caused $250,000 in damage, but resulted in no injuries.

“I determined that the origin of this fire was inside 240 UPSA2 Power Cabinet,” wrote Mike Mahar, deputy fire commissioner and fire investigator for Hillsboro, Ore. Fire and Rescue, in his report filed June 24. “After the investigation, the ignition source was undetermined. The first fuel ignited was undetermined, although likely the plastic combustible components of the power cabinet. The oxidant was atmospheric oxygen. The circumstances that brought them together was undetermined.”

Mahar wrote he could not rule out electrical failure or mechanical failure inside the cabinet as a possible cause of the fire. The investigation may reopen if more information comes to light, Mahar noted.

The blaze caused an hours-long power loss to the building, and users reported outages on the social media platform X, which also has a data center nearby, and may lease space inside the building, according to The Oregonian.

Digital Realty told CRN it is in a quiet period ahead of earnings and would not discuss the findings in the report but suggested reaching out to Schneider Electric.

“We are aware of a fire that occurred on May 22, 2025, in a contained area at a site where one of our power cabinet systems is present,” a Schneider Electric spokesperson said in a statement emailed to CRN. “There were no injuries, and the response was managed by local authorities. We monitored developments and provided information to the site operator and investigators during the assessment period. We remain available to support the site as needed.”

Mahar was one of a dozen firefighters called to the fire inside a building at Digital Realty’s 13-acre campus at 6675 NE 62nd Ave. The fire was contained to a 57-foot by 30-foot room that had been designated “UPSA 240.”

The report provided further details about the fire scene and the evidence left in its wake.

As arriving firefighters raced inside the facility at 10:20 a.m. local time, they saw smoke coming from behind a set of double doors on the second floor.

“Small explosive noises could be heard behind the door and upon opening the doors, dark brown/black smoke was [filling the room] from the floor to the ceiling,” the first firefighters inside wrote in their report. “An electrical bank in the room was found to be on fire and still energized. (Engine 6) used several CO2 and dry-chem extinguishers to keep the fire under control while waiting for the system to be de-energized.”

Hours later, Mahar focused his investigation on that smoke-and-fire-damaged 1,700-square-foot room with the bank of power cabinets.

“One of these cabinets showed complete charring and mass loss to combustible components inside the cabinet,” he wrote in his investigation. “These cabinets are approximately 6.5-feet tall, 2-feet wide, and 3-feet deep, are white in color and of steel construction. The charring patterns from floor to the top of the cabinet indicate a fire area at ‘240 UPSA2 Power Cabinet 1.’”

Inside that space was a Galaxy VX 250kVA 400/480V Power Cabinet GVXP250KD, which is the designation used by Schneider Electric for its Galaxy line of UPS systems. Mahar said it appeared the blaze ignited inside the cabinet and vented through the top, consuming electronics in the interior of the power supply.

“Power cabinet #1 had bottom-to-top charring and mass loss to internal components with only metal components remaining. The mesh door was discolored and deformed,” Mahar wrote. “There was a clean burn pattern on the interior metal cabinet from this cooling fan frame to the top of the cabinet. These patterns are greatest on the interior of the cabinet and decrease on the exterior. This is consistent with fire moving from inside the cabinet to outside and venting out the top.”

The fire was called in by the facility’s alarm system. According to the security logs kept by Digital Realty, which were turned over to investigators, the room was checked the night before the fire when staff conducted rounds.