Davey Tree Flipbooks

11 March/April 2026 | THE DAVEY BULLETIN DAVEY'S WIDE RESPONSE TO FERN R/C offices that responded to winter storm Fern include: Memphis, Arborguard Atlanta, Arborguard Charlotte, North Atlanta, Loganville (GA), Charlotte, Orlando, Southeast Nashville, Greensboro, Winston-Salem (Lusk), Knoxville. CLS territories that responded to winter storm Fern in their area or traveled to help other offices include: Dulles, Montgomery County Maintenance, Alexandria, Suffolk, Columbus, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Indianapolis and Mickman Bros. The clients Eastern Utility crews served during winter storm Fern included: Duke Energy, Entergy, Habersham Electric Cooperative and The City of Chattanooga in Tennessee. Clients served by DRG UAM during winter storm Fern response work include: Entergy Mississippi, Entergy Louisiana, Mississippi Power, Claiborne Electric in Louisiana and Oncor Electric in Texas. Eastern Utility crews found pieces of an evergreen tree completely frozen over during their storm work. Crews cleared trees and debris on residential roads and properties like the one shown following winter storm Fern. DRG'S UAM RUNS ONE OF LARGEST STORM RESPONSES EVER Davey Resource Group's Utility Asset Management (UAM) division saw one of its largest storm responses to date with winter storm Fern, with 242 employees responding. As part of their response, crews analyzed the full electric utility circuit starting at power grid substations, calling out any damage, determining if that damage was directly causing an outage and reporting any non-damage outage causes. They also analyzed hazards, reported to the storm dispatch team what needed to happen to clear the damage and secured the area around downed conductors while advising the public about the situation and its risks. "A lot of our team members have said to me that helping the greater community is the first and biggest reason for why they always volunteer, and it's also what drives our team to improve and expand our program," Joe Tommasi, Jr., operations manager, UAM, DRG, said. "The fact that so many people came together in such a short time, supported by all of our leadership working collaboratively, makes me very proud of the crews and very proud to be a part of this team." For Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), DRG's Utility Vegetation Management (UVM) division had 10 utility foresters and two safety observers assisting the Arkansas-based client while 10 additional safety observers and 10 foresters were on standby. Geoffrey Etzel, regional operations manager, DRG, said fortunately SWEPCO did not experience the level of damage that was predicted. the project in play, getting the personnel, equipment and numbers aligned to the crews on the ground having the right mindset, executing the plan with expertise, and persevering to accomplish each job and worksite - seeing everything come together beginning to end is something everyone who plays a part in should be proud of." 9 PUPPIES RESCUED BY DRG CREW While working in Mississippi, Seth Lile, reliability services foreman, DRG UAM, and his brother saw two puppies running through the ice and snow during the state of emergency ice storm. Lile decided to investigate and followed them about a quarter mile away to an abandoned home. Inside, he found seven more puppies, and all were starving. Over the span of two nights, Lile, Dominick Crooks, UAM reliability services foreman; and Isaiah Griffin, UAM crew member, gathered up all nine puppies and took them to The Cleveland-Bolivar County Animal Shelter of Mississippi. As of early March, all nine puppies were doing well — five had been adopted and four were still waiting for homes but should be adopted soon, the shelter said. Dale Wardropper, lead utility designer, UAM, DRG, captured trees covered in ice around Grenada, Mississippi, during the storm response.

• Cover