Davey Tree Flipbooks

187 186 Growth Rings Perseverance Larry Evans, left, and Larry Abernathy pose with LPGA member Ashli Bunch during a Davey National Managers' Meeting. Both men were instrumental in the Davey Tree Surgery Company's management, including of severe storms. Davey briefly sponsored Bunch as a professional golfer. at storm came with a silver lining. Bruce Semeria, then district manager of Davey's Philadelphia Residential/Commercial office, dispatched crews and trucks to assist with the ice storm recovery. at proved to be one of the region's first, big cross-service line collaborations and cemented a reliable partnership between Vaughn in Davey's utility operations and Semeria in residential services. eir relationship was one that, over time, would be duplicated as the storm assistance to utility services from R/C continued to expand. In 2007, the Davey Tree Surgery Company and crews from Davey's Eastern Utility operations responded to one of Oklahoma's most severe winter storms. About 500,000 homes and businesses lost power in December 2007, causing what was then Oklahoma's largest power outage. Beyond hurricanes, snow and ice, Davey has also supported recovery efforts follow- ing severe rain and flood events. A series of devastating rainstorms struck parts of California in March 1995. High winds and flooding uprooted countless trees. It was the third severe rainstorm to strike California that year, and arguably the worst. Countless trees simply toppled over in the high winds after roots lost their grip in the rain-soaked soil. Large eucalyptus, cypress and other species were devastated across the state. en-governor Pete Wilson declared more than half of California a disaster area. Fifty- and 60-hour-weeks became commonplace for Davey employees cleaning up after the March 1995 rainstorms in the Golden State. e managers of Davey offices in San Francisco, Santa Clara and Marin County found themselves postpon- ing scheduled work for clients – whose carefully maintained trees better weathered the storms – to help those whose trees had been destroyed by the severe weather. One year later, a severe windstorm slammed into California again with winds gust- ing up to 100 mph in some parts of the state. In Mendocino County, along State Route 20, near areas where Davey managed line clearance for PG&E, trees up to 140 feet tall toppled like dominoes onto the highway. Immense, unexpected tree growth from record-setting rainfall in southern California created another unusual challenge in 2005. e Los Angeles area received a near-record rainfall amount of 32.75 inches in the 2004-2005 season. Prior to the astounding rains, the Los Angeles area had been mired in drought. As a result, in the summer of 2005 tree growth exploded. e alarming need for increased tree work prompted Larry Abernathy, then a vice president in the Davey Tree Surgery Company, to write to his client, the city of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), about the situation. "Aside from causing an array of flooding and mudslides, the inordinate amount of rain also initiated stunning tree growth when warm weather arrived," Abernathy wrote. "is dramatic escalation of growth has been nothing short of overwhelming … Slow-growing trees that were not anticipated to be trimmed more than every third year have required trimming with much greater frequency. Trees that were expected to require minimal attention now require considerable work due to vast and rapid foliage growth. ousands of trees that were believed to have sufficient clearance from overhead conductors have rapidly grown into the proximity of the DWP's lines, all because of phenomenal growth patterns caused by heavy rain." Initially, Davey projected having to prune or otherwise address about 134,000 trees for LADWP that year. After the unprecedented tree growth, Davey determined 14,000 more trees would need addressed – a 21 percent increase from what the contract had anticipated. Ultimately, the surgery company lost money on the account due to the increased work needed. "is increase could not have been predicted by anyone," Abernathy said. Davey's Western employees, unlike most every other operations location, must face a natural disaster practically unique to their locale: earthquakes. In January 1994 the 6.7 magnitude Northridge earthquake shook parts of Los Angeles county for close to 20 seconds. e damage disrupted every utility service – water, electric, gas and telephone lines – and crumbled buildings and infrastructure. Davey crews sought alternate routes to avoid roadways demolished by the quake in order to respond to service calls, and within a week much of the region had begun to recover. Davey crews responded within hours of a tornado touchdown in Detroit in the summer of 1997. More than 150 employees from Davey's utility and residential service lines responded – and they were kept busy for a month cleaning up damage. Fred Johnson, retired corporate vice president of operations, said few people have a complete perspective of the critical role Davey personnel play in a storm response. "ey are indeed first responders and play as significant a role in the process as police, fire and, at times, military personnel," Johnson said. "Enhancements made to the D.O.T. and O.S.H.A. truck and aerial inspections were game-changers so that, when called, we were now truly ready to safely deploy anywhere in the U.S." Other operational improvements made by Davey included vehicles and trailers specifically built with the intent to supply Davey crews with safety-related equipment and immediate on-site support. ese were dispatched with the storm crews during major events, such as the Superstorm Sandy response. Similarly, an increased number of safety supervisors, with emergency crews, became a standard operating procedure during storm responses. "Our mantra in support services became 'We're about solutions,'" Johnson said. "ese storm response initiatives were, and still are, mission critical." As a result of such endeavors, since the 1980s Davey has gained industry recogni- tion for these national storm-response capabilities that were driven by the work of the utility and safety departments. is work established Davey as a leader in providing dependable and safe storm responses for communities across the continent. For Steve Marshall, retired executive vice president and assistant to the president, the most impressive aspect of Davey's storm response throughout the years has been the willingness of employees to leave their homes for weeks at a time to dedicate themselves to 12-hour days working six or seven days a week helping storm-ravaged communities. "at was the most impressive thing to me, and a source of great pride of our employees wanting to help people get their electricity back and get their lives back to normal," Marshall said. "e natural coordination that comes between all aspects of our company, including accounting, safety, operations, and more, is incredible. When called upon a specific task, this company can pull itself together very readily. And at a surprising speed."

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