Fanning the Flames of Conspiracy

I don’t normally go in for conspiracy theories, but read this and then I’ll share the tip that came with the link:

Storage and information management firm Iron Mountain has lost one of its main data centers today, according to the Associated Press. Although it’s unclear how the fire started, it spread quickly and took hours to control. Nine first-responders were killed during the blaze, while two are missing, and seven others are reported injured. By the time the fire was put out, the building “appeared to be ruined” according to news reports.

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.

My tipster adds, “This just reeks of arson. I’ll bet my hat, ass, and overcoat that the fire was intentionally set to destroy the bank records. Look at the paragraph about SCOTUS. Given the redundancy built into their fire-control systems, I don’t see any way this was an accident.”

The data center is a total loss — but what about the data? Well, the story goes on to report that the company is “in the process of contacting customers who may have permanently lost data.”

Now that makes my antennae twitch.