California Fires Shut Qualcomm HQ

Qualcomm has been forced to close its California headquarters due to the ongoing wildfires in the region. Qualcomm's HQ, which employs over 11,000 people in the San Diego area, isn't in the fires' direct paths, but some employees live in areas ravaged or threatened by the wildfires and smoke is making travel difficult. Qualcomm's headquarters is located to the south of the worst fires, and just a couple of miles short of the Harris Evacuation zone.

"It's quite chaotic, and we're all in the midst of it," spokeswoman Emily Kilpatrick told Reuters from her home. "Everyone is displaced." The office had last closed in 2003 due to forest fires.

Qualcomm has also inadvertently been assisting with the evacuation as the "Qualcomm Stadium" was opened as a refuge for tens of thousands of people displaced by the fires. The stadium can hold as many as 100,000 people.

Qualcomm isn't the only tech firm in and around San Diego. Sony, Gateway Computers, EMC, Intel and Microsoft are among the other technology companies with local offices.

Some 400,000 acres of woodland are on fire, and as many as 1 million people have been evacuated from their homes.

Posted to the site on 24th October 2007