Insider info here. Apparently there was some kind of “maintenance problem” that caused the sprinklers to dump.
This is highly suspect because most data centers utilize a two phase dry pipe sprinkler system. Even if it primed (via sniffing system or beam detector) with water the heads would still have to melt to disperse water. Most US DCs use 200degee heads for data floor fire suppression (local codes may vary). Many of them are mounted at 20+ feet unless it’s a multi story DC.
Pair this with the fact that their emergency cut overs also failed and it becomes much clearer that something fucky happened. They test and retest failover procedures for scenarios just like this regularly.