All Burned Up!

Another type of terrorism has raised its ugly head in the . . . . 

Another type of terrorism has raised its ugly head in the community where I live.  A nut case broke into the property owners’ association administration building, and set fire to the interior of the building totally destroying most of the files.

There was heavy smoke and water damage, even to areas that escaped the fire.  Office staff assumed that the computer equipment and phone system were OK and unwittingly attempted to power these units up!  It was a tragic mistake.

Whether you suffer from flood, fire, tornado, earthquake, etc., use caution when powering up any electronic equipment after such events.  A pre-defined disaster procedure must be followed before any attempts are made to power up.  The internal components need to be inspected, cleaned, dried, and reseated.  External wiring needs to be inspected and tested.  This applies to computers, network devices, telephone switches, and any other electronic devices.  These need careful inspection to minimize damage.  If you power up without these procedures, you can fry it all.

At the property owners’ association the most drastic damage was to the development’s critical building and planning records.  Hard copy reports, plans, and most documentation will be next to impossible to replace.  Before such a tragedy occurs, important documents should either be scanned into digital media and/or stored in a secure, fire resistant facility whenever possible.  Additionally, copies of key documents should be maintained at an off-site location, just like data back-ups of all computer files.

Needless to say, our community was not prepared for this.  A disaster plan should have been in force that included electronic recovery, and it should have been adhered to.  Our community will suffer a costly and time-intensive effort, but an important lesson was learned.  Could something have been done to prevent this from happening?  Maybe, but I doubt it; we’re just too trusting in this country.  You just never know.

I urge you to review your disaster plan regarding electronic equipment and data protection, and modify it to reflect changes in your business.  Don’t forget your hard copy documents that can’t be replaced.  Then, train staff routinely just like you do with any emergency drill.

Don’t let your records get all burned up!