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Over
400 Crews Mobilized for Midwest Ice Storm
After
the January 30th ice storm, numerous utilities from
Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri and on up into Michigan,
New York and Ontario suffered from thousands of broken
poles, crossarms and sagging lines such as this AEP/PSO
transmission line near Lawton, Oklahoma. Westar Energy
in Kansas lost over 1,100 poles and 1,600 spans of primary,
as well as thousands of crossarms and individual service
lines.
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Winter
got off to a fairly quiet start for brand new Corporate Storm
Coordinator Jeff Asplundh in Willow Grove-just some heavy snow
in early January in the Southeast and some lake-effect snow
in New York, none of which required mobilizing outside crews.
But then the ice storm of January 30th hit the Midwest, devastating
utility systems and trees, and knocking out power to over 600,000
people. Within two days, Jeff had mobilized over 400 Asplundh
crews to Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma! Remnants of this ice
storm also wreaked havoc on a few utilities in Michigan, New
York and the province of Ontario, Canada.
The Mel Riley Region, especially the Kansas City area, played
host to the greatest number of outside crews-more than 380 tree
and line construction crews from 14 different Asplundh management
regions. They traveled from 13 states, some from as far away
as Ohio and even Florida, for the debris disposal project that
followed. In fact, over 100 crews remained throughout most of
the month of March to handle storm clean-up! There will be more
on that story in the Summer issue of The TREE.
Beyond the Mel Riley Region, 14 tree crews were dispatched to
the City of Ponca, Oklahoma Electric Cooperative and Oklahoma
Gas & Electric in the Dan Thurston Region. Also in Oklahoma,
eight line construction crews were sent to AEP in the Tom Leverentz
Region.
By the evening of February 1, the ice storm had progressed northeastward.
Detroit Edison in lower Michigan called in additional line crews
from our subsidiaries, Asplundh Construction Corp. in New York
and Utility Lines Construction Services, Inc. in Connecticut,
along with 20 tree crews from the Rod Cornett and Mike Early
Regions. In western New York, 65 tree and line crews were mobilized
from three states to assist Rochester Gas & Electric and
Niagara Mohawk in restoring power. Asplundh Canada Manager Bryan
Sackville in the province of Ontario responded to several storm
emergency requests, but did not need outside assistance.
At
a staging area in a former store parking lot, over 300
Asplundh crews from 13 different states started their
12-hour shifts with breakfast in a tent and by cycling
the booms through their various positions to make sure
the aerial lifts were safe and ready to work. Then they
set out, box lunches on board, to work for Kansas City
Power & Light and the Cities of Kansas City (KS),
Gardner and Overland Park. |
In
the Midwest, the lines were cleared and the power was restored
within a week, 10 days at the most. Appreciative letters, calls
and e-mails poured into the Riley Region office, including a
bound copy of 18 thank-you notes and drawings created by the
second graders at Gardner (KS) Elementary School. They were
directed to Supervisor Jeff Duncan and Assistant Supervisor
Jeff Link who had been quoted in local media reports. General
Foreman Herb Babb also received a stack of drawings and thank-you
notes from the students of Mulberry Elementary School in Eureka,
Kansas.
Check out these great comments listed below (and in the 'Orchids'
section on page 12) from customers and property owners who were
impressed with our storm response:
Storm
Orchids - Midwest
From a
letter to Vice President Mel Riley in Kansas from Westar Energy's
Senior Vice President, Customer Operations Richard Dixon: ...
"Thanks to the efforts of your crews and others who were
sent to help us, service was finally restored to all customers
on February 8. During the restoration efforts and since, I have
heard nothing but praise for your crews in terms of safety, workmanship
and cooperation. We were truly fortunate to have had these fine
people working on our property."
From a
letter to Vice President Mel Riley from Missouri Public Service/
EnergyOne's Regional Director Brett Opfer and Vice President Electric
Field Operations Carole Lange: ... "Missouri Public Service
was very fortunate to have been able to call on Asplundh Tree
Expert Co. for support with our restoration efforts. Without the
cooperation, professionalism, dedication, and determination of
your staff, the massive restoration to our customers could not
have been completed in such a timely manner. ... We can't thank
you enough for your support and professional courtesy in sharing
your resources."
With
deceiving beauty, brilliant sunshine made the ice glisten
on the trees as a convoy of Asplundh Construction Division
crews from the Preston Polk Region arrived in Lawton, Oklahoma.
Based in Georgia, the Polk Region line crews were called
in to help repair damaged overhead lines for AEP/PSO.
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From a
letter to Vice President Mel Riley from Kansas City Power &
Light Director of Reception, Staging and Integration Mark Schuler:
... "We cannot thank you enough or truly show how much
we appreciate you allowing your people to leave their families
and jobs and come to Kansas City to assist in the storm restoration
effort. Without your help, we would never have restored service
as quickly as we did."
From a
letter to Vice President Mel Riley from Kansas City (KS) Board
of Public Utilities Electric Operations Manager Tony Pike: ...
"Many thanks for the long, long hours and the time away from
your home and family-not to mention all the other inconveniences
you've endured during this restoration process. Without your continuing
cooperation, it would have been impossible for us to restore electric
service to our customers in such a timely manner."
Regarding
Foremen Jimmy Babb and Jeramie Batson, and Crew Member Jose Gutierrez
and Cacey Batson in the Mel Riley Region, working for Westar Energy:
... "After our ice storm, the trees in Dexter (KS) were
in a shambles, and without their expert assistance, had another
storm rolled in, we would have lost power again. They did not
make my trees new again, but they are certainly in much better
shape now than when your crew of hard chargers first rolled into
town."
Missouri
Public Service Operation Supervisor Chuck Elliott wrote regarding
General Foreman Conley Burns, Foremen Hank Lockhart, James Parker
and Clifford Quarles and crews from the Eugene Wyatt Region (LA):
... "These crews were some of the best tree trimmers
I've had the pleasure to work with. They were willing to take
on any task and were certainly an asset to the restoration of
power to thousands of our customers during the worst ice storm
this company has had in 80 years."
From a
letter to Supervisor Juan Montero (TN) from Kansas City Power
& Light Line Clearance Superintendent Andrew Dodson: ...
"In the most damaging storm KCPL has ever experienced, more
than 285,000 customers were without electricity and your efforts
were vital in the storm restoration process. In addition, I have
not heard of any major safety incidents, which speaks well of
your company's safety program. The professionalism that your crews
showed proved that the focus was to restore power in a time-efficient
manner with a strong focus on safety."
Once
the ice melted and the power was restored, Asplundh crews
from 11 different states were contracted to remove hangers
and properly prune damaged limbs, as well as collect wood
debris. Log loaders ('clam' trucks) like this one from the
Steve Bostock Region in Alabama loaded brush into tractor
trailers for almost three weeks. |
Storm
Orchids - Northeast
From a
letter to Asplundh regarding General Foremen Scott Hoyt and Ned
Landis of the Lonnie Heffner Region (PA) and General Foreman Mike
Zehler of the Larry Moore Region (NY) sent by Niagara Mohawk Forestry
Supervisor James Bennett: ... "I just wanted to thank
you for the crews that you sent to the Genesee Region in Western
New York. These crews worked well with line crews as well as other
tree crews. They respected the property of our customers, and
communicated with our customers whenever possible. They worked
long hours at this difficult task without incident or injury.
The general foremen that you sent were a tremendous help getting
crews organized, communicated well with the storm center to set
priorities, and stayed well ahead of line crews."
From a
letter to Asplundh Canada Manager Bryan Sackville (Ontario) sent
by Peninsula West Utilities Line Supervisor Rudi Pahl: ...
"Please convey my thanks to your [General] Foreman Glen Best
for his quick response in providing us with men and equipment
on very short notice. Also, please convey a very special thanks
to Daryn [Marsh, Foreman] and Russ [Peel, Groundperson] who worked
long hours in very difficult conditions to help restore power
to our customers. ... One of your men went above and beyond the
call of duty to help restore power to customers who had been without
for most of the day. A large tree, situated in the middle of a
fast running creek, had fallen over a 4,800 volt power line. Daryn
managed to walk approximately one mile over a frozen, plowed field
and then waded into knee deep water to cut the tree clear of the
power lines. The power was restored and Daryn continued to work
in very cold weather with very cold, wet feet. Please convey a
very special thanks to Daryn for being a dedicated professional
under very extreme conditions."
From a
letter to Asplundh Canada Manager Bryan Sackville (Ontario) sent
by Port
Colborne Hydro Line Superintendent Ed Young: ... "I would
like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude
for the assistance rendered by Paul [Veismanis, Foreman] and your
crew [Groundpersons Sean Lippelt and Russ Peel] during our recent
ice storm. ... By the early morning hours of Friday, February
1, Port Colborne Hydro had virtually no customers with power.
By Sunday evening, February 3, the system was completely restored.
That the power was restored as quickly, efficiently and safely
is due to the response, cooperation and hard work from people
such as your employees."
Storm
Orchids - No Name Given
From a
letter to the Asplundh office in Lenexa (KS) sent by a customer
of the Kansas City (KS) Board of Public Utilities: ... "Your
employees were very courteous, polite, highly professional, and
did some outstanding maneuvering under dangerous and iced conditions.
We just wanted to let you know you were appreciated."
From an
e-mail to Manager Ellis Anderson (TN) regarding one of his crews
working for Kansas City Power & Light: ... "Power
was lost to us on Wednesday, the 30th of January due to an 80-ft.
hackberry that landed on our lines. The most wonderful sight was
your orange truck pulling up on Saturday evening. The men completed
their task quickly and were very pleasant to talk to even though
they had been working for days on end, and sometimes 16-hour days."
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