SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--Wildfires here have destroyed more than 8,700 acres of land since they began on May 5 and continue to burn near the city limits causing mandatory evacuations and business closures in the downtown area.

"Wildfires are big news here, so we're always aware of them," said Mike Powell, manager, security and emergency services for AAA, who is charged with corporate security for the company's nearly 200 offices nationwide. AAA has two offices near the wildfires, one in downtown Santa Barbara and the other less than 30 miles away in Ventura, Calif.

Last Friday as the wildfires neared the city, AAA was forced to close its Santa Barbara office. In addition to concerns about the security of the facility, Powell said he also had to monitor the status and safety of his employees. "Close to half our staff was in mandatory evacuation, so that presents issues to make sure they're safe and able to relocate," he said. Powell said he was mostly concerned with the movement of the fire and not largely concerned about looting or other security issues during this disaster. "Crime is not real high because there's too much going on and people can't get into the area and there's a lot of police presence," he said.

Fortunately, AAA's local business operations were not largely impacted and the company was able to open its office the following day after installing high efficiency particulate air filters along with charcoal filters to improve air quality caused by the smoke and ash.

However, despite the fires being nearly 80 percent contained, Powell said he continues to monitor its status. In addition to information from local news outlets, he receives regular updates from The National Center for Crisis and Continuity Coordination, a provider of situational awareness information. Powell said he receives information from NC4 about the location and movement of the fires as well as evacuation status and other pertinent information.

Karl Kotalik, vice president product management for NC4, said providing consolidated information to security professionals can help expedite business continuity and emergency management decisions. "If a company has a facility in an area that may be impacted, [a security professional] could spend all day long doing what we do, reading and making sense of news reports and monitoring the event all night," said Kotalik. "We cut to what's important to know for the corporate security professional."