On Thursday, May 23rd, a thick cloud of putrid black smoke rose over Hillsboro, OR. The smoke was from an early morning fire at one of the massive data centers based in the city. According to local media, the fire originated from batteries inside the Digital Realty (PDX 11) data center. Unfortunately, the flames did not spread to the rest of the data center and the damage was minimal. Firefighters let the fire burn itself out for five hours. The fire caused major disruptions on the web, including big outages to X/Twitter, which was reportedly one of the companies leasing space at the data center. There is currently no public information about the cause of the fire.
Hillsboro, Portland’s Western neighbor, is home to several major data centers that are the engines of digital control and technological domination. Incentivized by tax breaksand lax regulations, Hillsboro (AKA the Silicon Forest) has become an important international hub for the tech industry. Data centers and chip manufacturer like Intel have expanded their footprint there in recent years, and the AI boom is likely to bring in more new construction. This rapid expansion requires hugely increased power supply; the upgrade of existing transmission infrastructure, the installation of new “green” energy facilities in Eastern Oregon, and even proposals to construct nuclear power plants along the Columbia river. Portland General Electric (PGE) planned on clearcutting several acres in Forest Park to make way for new high-voltage pylons. From Against the Silicon Forest: “These power lines are designed to bring power to the Silicon Forest, most notably given the timing of this expansion, to Intel, whose largest operating hub lies just a short distance west of Forest Park.” The project is currently in limbo, awaiting the next action from PGE (PGE can choose to appeal the land use ruling and win approval from the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals).
Data centers in Hillsboro, Oregon.
The Hillsboro data center network is connected to critical subsea fiber lines that land off the Oregon coast to the West. The fiber network heads East, where it hits a junction of sorts in downtown Portland. The Pittock Internet exchange (921 SW Washington Street) is a major “carrier hotel” where fiber optic lines meet. From there, long haul fiber lines carry information to other parts of the state and country. Even though the internet can feel like an invisible beast, like any other machine, it is really just a bunch of wires and parts, which can be made visible with a little bit of research.
Map showing data centers and the fiber network that connects the “Silicon Ring” in Hillsboro, Oregon.
Fires like the one that burned on Thursday are pleasant reminders that the realm of technological control is not just digital; that the megamachine, no matter how massive and impenetrable it may feel, is still just a machine that can be destroyed like any other. Although Thursday’s fire may have been accidental, it still is a glimmer of hope and a suggestion of a path for attack. In March, anarchists torched several pieces of heavy machinery at the construction site for a new data center East of Atlanta. News of claimed and unclaimed attacks against internet and telecommunication infrastructure are more and more frequent. As the techno-industrial world grows evermore connected at breakneck speed, opportunities for sabotage are everywhere, if we dare. Let’s arm our desire for a world beyond ecocide and alienation and strike where it hurts!
No possibility of liberation is conceivable without stopping the machinery of death, without its desertion and destruction.
Some resources:
Against the Silicon Forest: https://actforfree.noblogs.org/2024/11/04/against-the-silicon-forest-usa/
No Trace Project: https://www.notrace.how/
Warrior Up (Site with recipes for sabotage. Recently updated. View with Tails (https://tails.net/) or a similar system): https://warriorup.noblogs.org/
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