HP, SNIA Sites in Colorado Springs OK After Fire

Last week's Waldo Canyon wildfire in Colorado Springs forced the evacuation of more than 32,000 residents, and destroyed hundreds of homes. Several data centers were within the evacuation zone, and had to move staff out of harm's way, but were not damaged by the fire, including a $100 million HP data center and a test lab for the Storage Networking Industry Associaton (SNIA).

“HP’s Colorado Springs facility, which was temporarily closed the evening of Tuesday, June 26, reopened at 8:00am local time on Friday, June 29," HP reported. "HP continues to monitor the situation closely and has plans in place to assist our employees and minimize any disruption to our customers.”

The HP Foundation also donated $25,000 to the Red Cross to support relief efforts in Colorado Springs.

The SNIA operates an 8,600 square foot data center at its SNIA Technology Center, where it tests storage networking products for interoperability and develops standards specifications

"The SNIA Technology Center in Colorado Springs was subject to mandatory evacuation," said Dan La Russo, a spokesman for the SNIA. "However this has been lifted as of (Friday) morning. The SNIA has not experienced any loss of business or productivity. With the 4th of July holiday coming up, there were no official training, education or hands on activities planned, and many staff have already had planned vacations/time-off.

"With the evacuation now lifted, the organization will begin powering up the equipment again and returning to full functionality over the next several days," he added. "Our focus remains on sending and providing our support to the SNIA staff who have their homes in and around the area. At the present time, everyone is safe and doing their best with a very challenging situation."

The Waldo Canyon fire has burned 17,827 acres, destroyed about 350 homes and killed two people. As of Sunday the fire was about 55 percent contained.