T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER — A Bitcoin mining operation, situated to the west of Grundy Center, suffered considerable harm from a fire incident on Sunday evening. The Grundy Center, Holland, and Wellsburg fire departments responded to contain the blaze.
Grundy County Bitcoin Mine Fire: Emergency responders tackled a fire at a digital currency mining farm situated west of Grundy Center Sunday evening.
The incident drew firefighters from Wellsburg, Holland, and Grundy Center. According to Chase Babcock, the Grundy County Emergency Management Coordinator, the call came in around 6:15 p.m. Sunday night to the MiningStore facility. The location is positioned just north of the intersection of Highway 14 and Highway 175, approximately eight miles west of Grundy Center.
Babcock indicated that upon arrival, firefighters observed flames extending from the top of the site’s hoop-style structure.
The MiningStore website indicates that the industrial-scale cryptocurrency operation, powered through a partnership with the Grundy County Rural Electric Cooperative, houses around 1,700 crypto-mining servers maintained by a team of nine on-site engineers. Babcock confirmed that no injuries occurred during the incident.
MiningStore, a company based in Texas, inaugurated its Grundy County site in 2020. As of press time, a MiningStore spokesperson could not be reached to offer insight into the degree of damage sustained at the facility, nor could they comment on potential future strategies for the location.