NEWBURGH, Ind. — Fire departments in Warrick County want to be a part of the conversation around data centers.
During a special meeting of the Warrick County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, Aug. 11, two area fire chiefs took the opportunity to ask to join the study committee working to craft an ordinance legislating data centers in the county.
Steven Byers, Boonville’s fire chief and vice president of the Warrick County Fire Chiefs Association, said he doesn’t believe any fire personnel have been a part of drafting the ordinance.
Byers said the department spoke with inspectors in Loudoun County, Virginia, who work strictly with data centers, handling inspections and emergency response. But what they compiled doesn’t even scratch the surface of what they’re looking at from the emergency services side, he said.
“We are asking to slow down,” he said. “Give us a couple seats at the table.”
The International Association of Fire Fighters addressed data center fires in a news release in March 2025, stating how different it is to fight a fire in one compared to other structures.
“Fire response to data centers is unusually complex due to the complicating factors at these mega sites,” the release states. “First responders should expect to be met by heightened security due to the sensitive nature of the information being housed, complex building layouts, equipment that doesn’t react well to water, and lithium-ion batteries used as a backup power source.”
Since it’s all so new, Byers said four to six months would be a good timeframe for them to get information together. Right now, Warrick County has a 180-day moratorium on data center builds in the county.
The Warrick County Area Plan Commission is set to discuss the data center ordinance at the Nov. 9 meeting. At that time, if the ordinance is approved, it will go to the Warrick County Commissioners. The commission could also opt to make changes to the ordinance.
Logan Beaven, assistant chief at the Lynnville Volunteer Fire Dept. said they have concerns over their resources and limited water capacity in relation to covering a data center.
Currently, the commissioners have met with one developer working on behalf of a company wanting to build a data center in Warrick County. This project, known as “Project Zora,” is on about 1,200 acres in the county that is primarily reclaimed mine land, according to the commissioners. The commissioners do not know the exact location, but said Tuesday they were told “south of Lynnville.”
In that area, Lynnville, Elberfeld and Pigeon Township are all covered by volunteer fire departments. Beaven said this means limited daytime coverage. There are mutual aid agreements in place, but the focus is how many people can get to the scene the quickest, Beaven said.
“No one has talked to us,” he said. “We would like to come sit at the table, speak to you guys on anything proposed.”
Sarah Seaton, president of the board of commissioners, said one of the first items brought up when talking to the developer was the Lynnville Fire Station and the situation around water in the area.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Warrick County fire fighters want to join conversation on data centers
Reporting by Sarah Loesch, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Sarah Loesch, Evansville Courier & Press | USA TODAY Network
