As wildfires continue to burn through huge swaths of Southern California, booksellers and one publisher in the region are dealing with dips in business and, in severe cases, closures. With news reports that more than 500,000 resident had to be evacuated, local booksellers and publishers are adapting to a rapidly changing situation.

Harcourt’s West Coast office, in San Diego, is open today after being shut for the last two days. According to Dan Farley, Harcourt Trade president and CEO who's based on the West Coast, the air quality downtown, where Harcourt is situated, is "better than in most other areas." Though Farley described the overal situation as "pretty awful," he added that he's heard that no one among his 75 staffers have lost homes. However, he thinks about half a dozen had to evacuate as a precaution.

Although Farley said the publisher is open for business, he's unsure how many employees will be making it into the office.

The chains have been forced to close a number of stores in the fire zone. B&N had shut eight outlets as of Tuesday afternoon. Borders said today that it has been able to reopen four stores that had been shut because of fire danger earlier this week--but has also had to shut an additional four outlets. All employees at the two chains were reported to be safe.

At Mysterious Galaxy bookstore in San Diego manager Patrick Heffernan said “it’s like earth, wind and fire out here.” He added that the store is safe but some of his staff is “in harm’s way.” Heffernan said that business has been down as a result of the fires and that, with so few employees able to make it into work, the store closed early yesterday and will remain closed today.

Two of the stores hit hardest are Book Works in Del Mar and Diesel in Malibu. Both stores, which are technically still open, haven't seen any real business since Sunday.

Lisa Stefanacci, the owner of Book Works, said her store lies on the outer edge of one of the evacuation areas and that, while it's safe to be in the area, "people are not thinking about buying books right now." Stefanacci, who has not asked any of her 10 employees to come in, said she doesn't think business will pick up until the weekend as the fire affecting the area is, she's heard, "only 1% contained." 

At Diesel it's a similar situation. Co-owner Alison Reid, who was in markedly good spirits, said the store's open "but not doing any business." She also said that almost no customers have been shopping since Sunday and, at this point, she's keeping her doors open "more as a civic duty than for business," to let people congregate and share stories. Reid also said that, while the blaze has all but killed business, it's good to be safe; the fire burned only 100 yards from the front of the store "where there are now a bunch of burned-out cars."

One bookstore untouched by the fires, Bay Books in Coronado (an island town off of San Diego), has actually seen a bump in business. According to manager Barbara Chambers the store has been “jammed” with people who are staying at area hotels after leaving their homes. 

Business has also been "brisk" at Warwick's in La Jolla. There book department manager Adrian Newell said that, with schools and businesses closed, people are looking for something to do. If the locals don't find something to occupy themselves "the only option is to go to an evacuation center and sit." 

But even at Warwick's the fires have dealt an unexpected blow to business. The store has canceled three upcoming events—both Yann Martel and Ann Packer have bowed out of scheduled readings and a local fundraiser was also scratched—and UPS is not delivering books. "We're not getting any orders, so that will have an impact, but you have to consider it in the big scheme of things."