JCVOAD Requests CFC Assistance

Just 4 days after our in-the-rain-and-cold workday in McCalla two and a half weeks ago representatives of the JCVOAD (Jefferson County Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters, of which we are participating members) gathered at the Jeffco EMA office in downtown Birmingham to assess everyone's response to that tornado and to discuss readiness plans for the next one, whenever that should occur.  We were alerted following that meeting that a Hueytown resident had called the Jeffco EMA with a request for assistance in removing the limbs and trunk of a downed tree in their yard, which probably was the result of the winds from that same storm.  JCVOAD asked us to consider the job and, if it fell within our mission and scope of capabilities, could we assist this resident with the removal of the debris in their yard. Team member Ken Clements traveled to the address to assess the job for us.  He took pictures and considered the problems we might encounter - chain link fencing, a TV satellite dish in the path that Abel would have to travel, the availability of space at the curb to stack the debris, the actual size of the tree itself and its position relative to the house and shed which it fell between, whether or not there was insurance in place that could pay for a commercial removal of the debris, who the actual owner of the property is, etc.  Once all the logistical problems were overcome and we determined that it fit our mission and our capabilities, we agreed to undertake the job.  After all, it was essentially just one tree that had fallen.  It was on the ground and had already been cut loose from its root ball by the neighbor who, having insurance in place, contracted with a tree service to cut up and remove the canopy portion of the tree that fell on his property (and, unfortunately, through his roof, too!). So this morning, Tuesday, March 22, a team of 8 CFC volunteers arrived at the Hueytown job site.  The sky was blue, the sun was shining and the temperatures were perfect for a day of chainsawing!  Quite a different workday from two and one-half weeks ago.

Our Hueytown team consisted of (kneeling and seated in the foreground, left to right) Henry Averyt, Bob Thompson, Alan Weeks, (standing and seated in the background, left to right) Boyd Martin, Tim Smith, Ray Miller, Jim Pressler and Bob Nabors.  Not pictured, but very much needed and a part of the team today, Asbury UMC's skid steer Abel.

Our assignment was at the home of Bruce Findley - that's Bruce to the left.  (Bruce tripped and fell against a portion of the tree while watching us do our work and ended up requiring 4 stitches in his right temple.  He reports that he broke no ribs but he also did suffer some significant abdominal bruising.)  The job looked easy, but we quickly found out that this oak tree was REALLY BIG - 37" in diameter at its base (as shown in the image below) and almost 50 inches across where the tree branched out between two forks (shown below being lifted away and to the debris pile at the street by Abel).

Here are three views of what we found when we arrived at the job site and how it all looked when we departed.

Before: After:

Before: After:

Before: After:

As always is the case with us, the root ball gets to stay there as we do not have the capability of pulling it out when it's so big.  Nor do we have the stump grinding equipment that would be needed to pulverize it into sawdust. We ran through chain after chain as the dense wood dulled them quickly.  Our usually efficient 28" bar Stihl chainsaw went through 3 chains alone!  But fortunately, between the 6 chainsaws the team used throughout the morning, the job was accomplished in time to leave for us to enjoy a team lunch at Bob Sykes Bar B-Q in Bessemer, located just a few blocks away.  Between our 8 volunteers, some 46 hours were committed to this assignment.  (The City of Hueytown required that we cut the tree trunk sections into 3' lengths and the branches into 6' lengths, so that really was why the job took just a bit longer than we normally would take to cut up even this big tree - we needed to make many more shorter trunk lengths than we normally would drop at the curb.) Here are just a few more pictures of the job in progress.  Note how fortunate Mr. Findley was to have the tree fall so "conveniently" between his house and his shed.  Note also how unfortunate his neighbor was (the blue-tarpped roof), however.  The last image is of the debris pile Abel created at the curbside, dropping the lengths over the chain link fence.  NOw it's up to the City to lift all those sections into their debris removal vehicles and take them away!

We're expecting bad weather again in our area toward the end of this week, so if we're needed again, we'll be ready.  As we requested in our last workday report, please continue to pray for our safety as we work to clear storm debris fields and please especially pray for the survivors of the storms who we will be serving. And as always, please read our blog at cuttersforchrist.bolgspot.com whenever you can!

In His Service, Bob