Company reports damage from Santa Rosa wildfires
The corporate headquarters of test company Keysight Technologies is shut down and suffered minor damage in the wildfires that have wiped out parts of Santa Rosa, California.
Although a local news report claimed that the campus had been destroyed, the most recent update from the company said that as of Monday afternoon, “all four main buildings are intact, although there appears to be some minor damage. Two modular structures and several automobiles suffered more extensive damage.”
RCR Wireless News confirmed with a company spokesperson that the facility remains closed as of Wednesday, and that there is no new information publicly available as of Wednesday morning. Photos published by The San Francisco Chronicle, including the one above, show flames on the property. A number of nearby buildings, including Sweet T’s restaurant close to the Keysight campus, have been reported destroyed.
Keysight CEO Ron Nersesian told The Santa Rosa Press Democrat that a company crisis response team had made an initial visit to the site on Tuesday and although further examination of the buildings will be conducted, “we just thank God that those (permanent) buildings sustained minor damage from what we can see at this point.”
The 1,100 workers at the site will reportedly receive the week off with full pay, and the company plans to provide $10,000 to employees who have lost their homes and $1,000 for housing assistance for those temporarily displaced. The Press Democrat noted that Keysight is the largest company headquartered in Sonoma County.
The ongoing California wildfires have killed 17 people and more than 115,000 acres around the state have been burned. At least 1,500 structures have been destroyed. New evacuations were issued overnight, and the winds are expected to pick up again and make fire-fighting more difficult.
Keysight has said that it plans to provide more information after it is able to get full access to the facility, adding that “teams of safety experts will evaluate the buildings as soon as fires in the surrounding areas are controlled and it is safe to return to the area.”
Keysight continues to conduct business as usual at its other worldwide locations.
