FACES OF THE FIRE : Employers Keep Tabs on Victims : Companies: Using computers to determine who lives in damaged areas, Fluor, Taco Bell and others work out plans to care for their workers, community.

Orange County employers are looking after their own workers as well as the community in the aftermath of the fires that sizzled the Southland this week, scorching thousands of acres and dropping debris on homes.

Many companies didn’t wait for employees to tell them about losses.

Firms like Fluor Corp., Allergan Inc. and Western Digital Corp., all in Irvine, used their computers to search personnel records for anyone whose ZIP code fell in a fire zone or nearby neighborhood. Then the companies began contacting those employees.

“We have 690 people living in those areas, but so far no one has lost a house,” said Michael Timmermann, a spokesman for Allergan, which employs 1,500 in three Orange County locations. A few people, he said Thursday, hadn’t been contacted yet, and others who were evacuated hadn’t been able to return to their homes to assess the damage.

Fluor, which with 2,800 workers in Irvine alone is one of the county’s largest employers, identified 550 employees living in the fire zones and was able to contact about 80% of them. No one lost a home, said Rick Maslin, the company’s spokesman.

At Western Digital, three employees living in Laguna Beach have lost their homes, and three others haven’t been allowed to return home since their evacuation, said John Porcelli, vice president for corporate services.

Employers generally said they will be as helpful as possible, giving workers reasonable time off to get their affairs in order and helping in other ways, including stress counseling for the entire family. “Kids especially get strung out, often having nightmares,” Maslin said.

Taco Bell in Irvine was quick to reach out to employees, creating a task force Wednesday that worked late into the night devising aid plans for both the community and for any of its 800 workers affected by the fires.

“We have a liberal leave policy, so they can secure their homes and families,” said Janis A. Smith, Taco Bell’s spokeswoman. “We have transportation to bring them to headquarters, where we have financial, insurance and legal advisers. We also have a health club, so they can use the showers there, and we’re providing hotel rooms if they need them.”

She said “less than five” employees have told the company that they lost their homes. Many others, though, haven’t been able to return to their homes in Laguna Beach, and the company isn’t sure how many more will be needing help.

The Irvine Co., the county’s biggest landowner, hasn’t had any employees who have lost their homes yet, nor have any of its housing properties been damaged. Its vacant land, however, has been damaged extensively, said Dawn McCormick, the company’s spokeswoman.

The company has set aside a number of its vacant housing units for its own employees as well as for others who may now be homeless, she said. Several employees have reserved units in case they need them.

The homes of at least two Los Angeles Times employees--both in Orange County--were destroyed, and the company is trying to find out if others among its 6,700-member work force were affected, said Laura Morgan, the newspaper’s spokeswoman. Workers also can turn to a corporate foundation dedicated to helping employees in need.

At Rockwell International Corp. in Seal Beach, which employs 21,500 at locations from Ventura County to Orange County, the process of finding out about those in need is taking a bit longer. William Blanning, a spokesman, said the company has no official response, mainly because it doesn’t know of any employee who might have lost a home.

The Times and the other companies contacted said they will likely seek employee donations of food, clothing, furniture and cash to help any colleagues whose homes were severely damaged or destroyed.