The CPSE Center for Innovation’s newest Strategic Scan found that 68% of surveyed chiefs expect data centers to change fire department planning

MCLEAN, Va. — The Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) Center for Innovation (CFI) released its fifth Strategic Scan, finding that 68% of responding fire chiefs believe data center development will require significant changes to fire department planning and preparedness.

The report, titled “Data Center Response and Preparedness,” draws on a survey sent to chiefs from agencies accredited by the CPSE Commission on Fire Accreditation International and from holders of the Chief Fire Officer (CFO) credential. The respondents shared their perspectives on preparedness, response capabilities, infrastructure impacts, regulatory considerations and strategic planning associated with modern data center facilities.

“Because of their rapid growth and the potential impact on fire service response, we thought this was an important topic to address,” said CFI Board President Jim Robinson, a CFO and chief of the Greensboro (North Carolina) Fire Department. “As data centers continue to expand, we need to be proactive in understanding the emerging risks, operational challenges, and resource demands so we can anticipate what’s ahead and position the fire service to respond safely and effectively.”

What chiefs reported:

• Presence: Nearly half of respondents (49%) have no known data center projects in their service area. Another 23% have one or more operational data centers, 20% have facilities proposed or under review, and 9% have one under construction.
• Moratoriums: 19% said their authority having jurisdiction imposed a moratorium on data center development.
• Operator contact: 49% said data center operators had communicated with their agency. Of those, 29% said an operator promised reinvestment in fire or emergency services as part of planning or approval.
• Challenges: 44% agreed or strongly agreed that data centers present significant challenges for their agency. Facility and campus scale, complex building layouts and difficulty de-energizing equipment were cited as the biggest operational challenges.
• Hazards: 91% expressed concern about lithium-ion battery fires and thermal runaway, and 90% about large-scale battery energy storage systems.
• Current preparedness: The most common strategies were preplanning visits (35%), facility tours for firefighters (28%), site-specific response plans (22%) and joint training with facility personnel (20%). Only 2% reported full-scale training exercises.
• Next 24 months: Chiefs most often planned coordination with local agencies (46%), additional firefighter training (42%) and engagement with developers during planning (42%).

Key takeaways

The scan offers five takeaways for fire service leaders:

1. Conduct a data center-specific risk assessment within your jurisdiction.
2. Engage proactively with data center developers and operators before incidents occur.
3. Invest in specialized training and equipment to address data center hazards.
4. Pursue regulatory clarity and advocate for updated codes and standards.
5. Develop cross-functional partnerships to address infrastructure and community impacts.

Data dashboard

This is the first CFI Strategic Scan to provide an interactive data dashboard, which allows users to filter and visualize results for their own jurisdictions. The dashboard was created by Alex Stephenson, research chair of the Association of Fire and Emergency Services Analysts (AFESA).

“I wanted to create a dashboard that provided an interactive way to look at the large amount of data the Scan produced,” Stephenson said. “The goal was something both comprehensive and user friendly. It was a complex process and a lot of fun to create.”

The report was produced in partnership with AFESA and Marist University, with support from the NFPA. The full report is available from the CPSE Center for Innovation.

CFI Strategic Scans are part of the center’s Actionable Research program.

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