Wildfires release carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other greenhouse gases (GHG) that contribute to climate change.

C&W Services, a facility services company operating throughout the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, recently stepped into action to respond during the California wildfires. The company released this statement:

When the Camp and Woolsey wildfires threatened one of our client’s operations in California, C&W Services quickly mobilized to help ensure the safety of employees, and the continuity of operations. The two fires affected four facilities — West Hills and Sacramento, which were near the fires, and Valencia and Las Vegas, which took over production when West Hills closed.

On November 18, the Woolsey Fire started within a half mile of the West Hills site. The West Hills lab was self-evacuated due to the risk of encroaching fire, as well as the disruption smoke was causing to employee safety and operations.

Post evacuation, the C&W Services’ team quickly moved to help shut down and secure the site and protect it from potential smoke damage.

Efforts included:
- Closure of all flammable and toxic gas valves for lab production testing to minimize the chance of any explosions.
- Assistance with specimen processing by on-loading enough lab supplies for the West Hills personnel to continue processing in the Sacramento, Valencia and Las Vegas laboratories.
- Posting signs on building entrances that the building was closed.
- Closure of all exterior air dampers on the HVAC system to reduce smoke intrusion.
- Procuring and installing carbon filters in the main HVAC units to reduce smoke odor.
- A complete building cleaning with deodorizer prior to reopening.

Meanwhile, the Camp Fire was compromising the air quality at the client’s Sacramento lab, which was scheduled to take over production from West Hills. The C&W Services team worked with the client to monitor indoor air quality, first by helping install carbon air filters and closing outside dampers on the main Sacramento lab, Building 3714. As the air quality in Sacramento declined — eventually to the point of reaching a national record low — the C&W Services team worked with three local landlords to install filters and close dampers on buildings occupied by the client. In addition, C&W Services’ supervisor worked at the Sacramento site on a Saturday to ensure the lab’s gasses and DI/RO systems were ready to handle additional workload coming from West Hills.

Thanks to the team’s diligence, C&W Services helped the client meet its normal operational requirements, adapt to closures without loss of productivity, and support return-to-service operations.