9 Die in Fire Destroying Argentine Bank Archives

[jakeXT]

Source: ABC News

Nine first-responders were killed and seven others injured as they battled a fire of unknown origin that destroyed an archive of corporate and banking industry documents in Argentina's capital on Wednesday.

The fire at the Iron Mountain warehouse took hours to control and at least half of the sprawling building was ruined despite the efforts of at least 10 squads of firefighters.

The nine firefighters and civil defense workers were crushed when a brick wall collapsed on top of a large group of first-responders on the sidewalk and street outside. Tearful rescuers removed rubble by hand to reach their comrades.

...

If the cause is found to be arson, it wouldn't be the first time for Boston-based Iron Mountain Inc., which manages, stores and protects information for more than 156,000 companies and organizations in 36 countries. Fire investigators blamed arson for blazes that destroyed its warehouses in New Jersey in 1997 and London in 2006, prompting rounds of legal claims over lost records.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/die-fire-destroying-argentine-bank-archives-22373564

[Android3.14]

1. Hey Moe

What an amazing co-winky-dink!

[Beacool]

2. Terrible.

I always feel so bad when I hear of firefighters dying in the line of duty. It's a tough job. When everyone is running out of a building, they are the ones running in. We lost so many of them on 9/11.

May they rest in peace.

[mackerel]

3. its worse when it's arson because they knowingly

Put the firefighters at risk

[Beacool]

5. I agree.

[greatlaurel]

6. Well put

Sure looks suspicious with the court case issue. How convenient to put all those records in one place and then a massive fire. May the victims rest in peace.

[Blue_Tires]

4. Interesting...

The data center was located in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. Among the data stored there were several archives containing corporate and central bank records, a potentially huge loss that could have some surprisingly far reaching consequences. Just last month, for instance, the United States Supreme Court decided to hear a case on whether creditors could seek historic bank records from Argentina regarding the country’s default in 2001. Whether or not such files have now been destroyed is unknown.

Such disasters are one of the things data storage companies like Iron Mountain try their hardest to prevent. The Buenos Aires facility even had a team of private firefighters at the facility. That’s in addition to the sprinkler systems, and automatic containment mechanisms designed to stop fires from spreading through the building. All of those precautions, however, were apparently not enough.

http://technologyadvice.com/iron-mountain-data-warehouse-burns-buenos-aires/

This has to go into the Hall-of-Fame for arson jobs....Sadly, the death toll is expected to rise as there are employees still trapped under the rubble....

[mackerel]

7. If only the thread had read:

9 Bankers Die in Fire Destroying Argentine Bank Archives. So unfair for fire fighters to lose their lives over this
fire.

[former9thward]

8. Don't they have these records backed up on a computer or in the cloud?

Why should people risk their lives for paper?