Davey Tree Flipbooks

7 November/December 2019 | THE DAVEY BULLETIN STORM DISRUPTS POWER FOR NEARLY 700,000 IN MICHIGAN Two powerful thunderstorms swept through Michigan knocking out power to more than 690,000 customers of DTE Energy and prompting an emergency Davey response. Clay Carlson, area manager, DTE Energy account, said the storms struck just days apart starting with the first on July 19, a Friday, and the second the next day on Saturday. "Those storms represented the largest outage figures for DTE Energy since March of 2018," Carlson said. "We didn't bring any extra crews in. They were all Davey employees on the DTE Energy account." Davey responded with 56 crews totaling 173 employees. Carlson said many of the employees who responded worked 14 consecutive days on the storm counting their work before it hit the area. "Many of those were 16-hour days," he said. "I want to thank all of them for the hard work they put in and their focus on safety. The commitment they had to our utility client, its customers and Davey to put in those hours and make sacrifices with their families is laudable." DEBRIS HOUNDS DOG TRAINING FUNDRAISER No one was hurt and none of the kennel facilities were damaged when this tree failed. PADS' mission is to breed, raise, train and support certified assistance dogs. They partner dogs with people living with disabilities and with community care professionals, according to their website. Photo Credit: Pacific Assistance Dogs Society The metro Detroit area was among the hardest hit by the late July storms. When a portion of a large poplar tree failed at the Pacific Assistance Dogs Society (PADS) in Vancouver, British Columbia, before a fundraiser at their facility, David Hengeveld, foreman, Lower Mainland Utility account, stepped in to help remove the section of this tree free of charge. Davey has been parking trucks in the area by PADS and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Force and has fostered great relationships with both entities. Hengeveld left his number with PADS in case the trucks ever got in their way and needed to be moved. "They called my number directly and asked if we could assist them with a poplar tree that had snapped in half," he said. "The top portion of the tree and the crown had failed. It hit the BC Hydro lines and the tree was all over the lawn." There wasn't a storm or wind the day this tree failed, according to Hengeveld. It was just the tree's time to go. "I went early in the morning before the shift started and did the cleanup," Hengeveld said. "It involved chipping branches and removing the top portion of the tree from the lawn to make it nice for their fundraiser." Helping people is part of the job, Hengeveld said. In this instance, the work did not take long. PADS, as a thank you, invited Hengeveld and his crew members to the fundraiser. Hengeveld attended with his family. "In our line of work, people get upset with our trucks, the noise or our work," he said. "On the occasion we can help, it can go a long way."

• Cover