“This is when humanity really starts to impress you, when you see the good in us,” SADA CEO Dana Berg said.

Amid the destruction wrought in the Los Angeles area by wildfires this month, local solution providers are stepping up for employees and customers.

Dana Berg, CEO of Los Angeles-based SADA–a member of CRN’s 2024 MSP 500–told CRN in an interview that his employees have offered colleagues food and shelter, and SADA has been in contact with affected employees about health care and financial assistance programs available through the company and its parent–Chandler, Ariz.-based Insight (No. 17 on CRN’s 2024 Solution Provider 500).

“This is when humanity really starts to impress you, when you see the good in us,” Berg (pictured) said. “We have teammates that are housing other teammates. We have people with guest homes that, you know, are offered. We have people that have vacation cabins in the local mountains that have been offered up to people.”

[Related: ‘We’ve Got To Rebuild’: The Channel Steps Up In Aftermath Of Hurricane Helene As Threat Of Hurricane Milton Looms]

LA Wildfires

As of Monday afternoon, the Los Angeles area wildfires have killed 24 people, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner.

The fires have destroyed more than 12,000 structures and burned more than 40,000 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). The 23,000-plus-acre Palisades fire is only 14 percent contained. The 14,000-plus acre Eaton fire is 33 percent contained. And the 799-acre Hurst fire is 95 percent contained.

AccuWeather puts the preliminary estimate of total damage and economic loss between $250 billion and $275 billion. The weather forecasting company estimated in December that the cost of Hurricane Helene was between $225 billion and $250 billion.

PowerOutage.us showed more than 17,000 LA Department of Water and Power customers without power at the time.

Keith Nelson, CEO and chief information security officer at Irvine, Calif.-based Vistem Solutions–a member of CRN’s 2024 MSP 500–is not located in an area affected by the wildfires, but has customers in the affected area, including the busy Port of Los Angeles.

Nelson told CRN in an interview that the port checked its generator systems in late November to prevent instant shutdowns–although he didn’t foresee that an outbreak of fires would be what the port was hardening against. Smaller companies in the area that Vistem works with have lost power and are relying on manual processes he’s reviewed with them on at least a quarterly basis as their trusted IT adviser, he said.

“One of the mistakes we make as technology partners is we think that’s all a tech answer,” Nelson said. “A lot of it is procedural policy and how a client prepares. … What we have to do in these types of situations is make our customers, our employees all real confident in the fact that there is a plan, we’re moving forward, it’s not time to panic and throw in the towel.”

Nelson highlighted efforts from cities, counties and organizations outside of the fire areas that are bringing food and resources to Los Angeles. When asked about organizations where people can donate resources, Nelson said to consider groups such as Nehemiah Project LA that work with young people in the foster care system, who might be displaced by the fires.

SADA’s Berg said that his solution provider’s investment in cloud technologies and a large worldwide distribution has resulted in minimal effects from the fires on customer IT. Berg also reflected on the world adopting more remote working technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic as cutting down on the disruption that can result from extreme weather cases and other disasters.

Berg said he is ready to help anyone else in need in Southern California. “We just want everyone to know that being a member of this community means that we have an obligation to help,” he said. “You can be a customer, you can be a competitor, you can be a partner. It does not matter. These are times when we come together.”

Although the company’s focus now is on the safety of employees and customers, after the fires are quelled Berg expects SADA to navigate with its customers through lessons learned and how to be better prepared in case of future fires or other disasters, such as a major earthquake or a cyberattack.

“Unfortunately, the reality is that these risks are increasing,” Berg said. “We can be there for customers that want to understand how to harden and further protect their corporate interests.”

While no customers of Westlake Technologies have lost their data centers, many of them have lost their homes, said Bill Allen, consultant and chief technology officer of the West Lake Village, Calif.-based solution provider.

“Nobody expected the fires to expand as quickly as they did,” Allen told CRN. It’s been a freaking nightmare. Lots of people in this place. None of my customers lost lives, but some of my customers have lost their homes. And you know, when you lose your home, it’s more than just being displaced and trying to figure out where you’re going to go. All their memories, everything that made up their life, their kids’ lives, their social setting, all that’s gone. All those memories, all the pictures, documents, anything that recorded the history of their life inside that house.”

Westlake Technologies has two major customers in the fire area, CalTech (California Institute of Technology) and JPL (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Allen said. Both shut down their operations but have not yet suffered directly from the fires, he said.

This is not Westlake Technologies first brush with wildfires in the Los Angeles area, Allen said.

“Back 10 or 12 years ago, a fire literally came up to my fence,” he said. “I stayed in the house, and I tried to fight it with my own water. We had fire trucks on my street. The planes would come over and drop fire retardant. All of us on that block were lucky. The retardant took care of everything. It literally came up to my fence line. But that hasn’t been the case this time.”

Given how close Westlake Technologies is to the fires, Allen said he is prepared to leave if needed.

“We had an evacuation notice, and it was rescinded, and then we got a notice to be prepared,” he said. “So everybody in the house is packed and ready should we have to go.”

Senior Editor Joseph F. Kovar contributed to this story.