Nothing’s routine when it comes to safe tree trimming

Article by Eric Wolfe
Photos by John Storey

IBEW 1245 tree trimmers working for Wright Tree cleared growth away from PG&E power lines in Fortuna, CA a couple of days before the official start of spring.

Working from the bucket, Foreman Travis Guy used a pole pruner to remove branches from an assortment of trees—from alder, redwood and willow, to eucalyptus, acacia and cottonwood. James Wren worked on the branches after they hit the ground, cutting them down to size for the chipper.

Working around 12 KV distribution lines is something IBEW line clearance tree trimmers do all the time, but you can’t really call the work “routine.” Nothing is routine when you’re working up in the air around energized power lines, or on the ground next to a high-capacity chipper that will grind up anything you feed into it.

Tree trimmers have to be alert to pedestrians and cars approaching the work area. And they have to be continually alert to each other’s actions. Communicating is key, said Guy, a nine-year IBEW member.

“I have to make sure I see him at all time and he knows what I’m doing at all times. If something doesn’t look good to one another, we can’t be shy about it, we have to let one another know.”

The state, of course, needs rain. But it’s hard to complain about the weather when spring brings brilliant blue skies.

“A lot of times in the morning it will be really overcast and then it will clear off,” said Guy. “Lately we’ve had just the most beautiful weather ever.”