Location
Calaveras County, CA
PJE Role
Prime Contractor
Date Completed
May 2016
Location
Calaveras County, CA
PJE Role
Prime Contractor
Date Completed
May 2016
During September of 2015, two massive wildfires (the Valley Wildfire and the Butte Wildfire) began burning in Northern California. Together, the fires burned 146,935 acres of land, destroyed 2,776 structures, and damaged utility infrastructure. P&J was contracted by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to assist with the response and hazard mitigation efforts for the Butte Wildfire in Calaveras County.
P&J provided technical tree felling and debris reduction services within utility right of ways, private property, and other areas impacted by the Butte Wildfire. Immediately following receipt of notice to proceed, P&J mobilized personnel and equipment to San Andreas, California where the base of operation for the project was established.
Because of the challenging terrain and the fact that crews worked in close proximity to power lines, tree felling operations were precisely controlled using ropes and calculated notches and cuts to guide tree fall direction. In some cases, tree climbers were required to remove treetops before they were felled. Reduction crews used cutting, bucking, and grinding methods to reduce felled tree debris.
trees felled
workers onboarded
felling crews
reduction crews
support crews managed
logs
chunks of debris hauled
man-hours
lost-time accidents
Phillips & Jordan was also awarded Phase II work for the project. This phase of the project involved log and debris removal within utility right-of-ways on private property, reduction, and disposal services. Phase II required multiple steps inclusive of property owner interaction, sign-up, both -pre and -post assessments and evaluations, and documentation as to the state of the property. Operationally, Specific activities performed by Phillips & Jordan involved removal of unwanted logs and trees from privately-owned properties as requested by owners. Removal crews hauled 3,303 logs and 14,574 chunks of debris to a staging area where they were reduced via chipping or mulching and either delivered to a final disposal site or transported to a co-generation plant where they will be used as recycled fuel to generate power.
