The Hours are Gruelingly Long, Sometimes Up to 16 Hours at a Time. The conditions are often perilous: freezing temperatures, driving rains, unrelenting heat. Even following the best safety precautions down to the last detail, it can still be dangerous work. Yet for most linemen, they can't imagine being in any other line of work. When linemen do repair work following devastating storms, the difficult conditions are often magnified. So, too, are the qualities that make these men so skilled at their jobs.

Linemen from four utilities shared their experiences of making right what nature has torn apart.

Art Garcia, Arizona Public Service

One of the worst storms to which Art Garcia has responded occurred on Labor Day 2008, when 90-mph winds pulled down more poles than Garcia remembers on previous storms. His crew was already out working a planned outage when the monsoon arrived. Garcia said he had lived in the area his entire life and had never seen such a storm.

“We were soaking wet from the rain when we got the call,” Garcia said. “So we went home, changed our clothes and then headed out. We worked four or five 15-hour days on that one.”

Garcia's perspective of that week? “It's kind of fun what we do for a living,” Garcia said. “Most linemen enjoy doing storm cleanup as long as the work doesn't stretch on too long.”

The biggest challenge for Arizona Public Service (APS) crews is dealing with the excessive heat, Garcia said. “Still, most of the transplanted linemen in our area say they prefer working in the heat instead of the cold,” Garcia said. “You learn to keep yourself hydrated and wet, and try to avoid the hardest work in the heat of the day. Also, the trucks have air conditioning, so there is relief when you travel.”

Garcia said the linemen keep an eye on each other to make sure that no one is being overcome by the heat. “There are no heroes working in the heat,” Garcia said. “You learn how to work smart.”

The most unique job on which he worked was doing cleanup work following a brushfire in San Diego. “The scene after a fire is like the moon. There is nothing there,” Garcia said. “The poles are completely gone and only the wire is left. Fortunately, it didn't rain because the area was very sooty.”

The APS crew was assigned a foreman from San Diego Gas & Electric to answer questions and to provide clearance and documentation. The foremen's guidance was important because of the unique terrain and the different project specifications used by the San Diego utility.

“They use some different terminology from what we use,” Garcia said. “It was like playing for a different football team from the one you are used to playing.

“We took our own APS leadership to the job, too,” Garcia said. “We operated like our own little company.”

Jay Clarida, Rich Buettner and Bill Bennett, Ameren

Jay Clarida has been a lineman for 36 years and has done his share of out-of-town storm repairs. “Usually, it's just a phone call, pack your clothes and let's go,” he said. These days, he prefers to be one of the crew members who stays behind to work on the local system.

“I do have seven guys under me who are always dying to go work on a storm repair in another town,” Clarida said.

Years ago, Clarida remembers when crews would work around the clock after a storm. “Safety is a high priority these days, so we usually just work in the daylight hours,” he said. “Also, if a man has had eight hours of rest, he can usually do a lot more work.”

Clarida also has seen big improvements in the linemen's equipment since those round-the-clock days. Now, of course, a lineman wears a device around his neck that beeps when he approaches an energized line. Clarida remembers when crews worked at night before they had those devices.

The computers on the line trucks that show all the components of the system, including fuses, disconnects and substations, also have been a huge help on the job.

“We used to have to manhandle everything,” Clarida said. “I can't do the things physically that I used to do, so the things like the gibs and hydraulic systems on the trucks make a huge difference.”

The biggest storm he has worked on was in the 1980s, when the southern end of Illinois was rocked by 120-mph winds. “The wind just devastated our system,” he said. “We had whole towns without feeds. It took three weeks of round-the-clock cleanup work for months after the storm hit.”

What advice would he offer those who are new to working on storm cleanup? “You can't get in a hurry,” he said. “Take your time in looking over a situation to verify which lines are energized. You don't get a second chance.”

Rich Buettner, who has spent 40 years as a lineman, also prefers to stay behind when crews leave to assist another utility. “Every time our crews go away to help on a storm, there's also a lot of work here to do.”

Many of Buettner's fellow crew members went to Missouri following the winter ice storm to help restore power to Ameren customers there.

“It was hard for our crews to find a place to stay and a place to eat,” Buettner said. “The townspeople all had to stay in the hotels since they were without power. Our crews worked in Missouri but ended up sleeping at hotels in Tennessee.”

Bill Bennett was one of the Ameren linemen who traveled to Missouri after the ice storm. “We drove for 15 miles and did not see a single pole standing,” Bennett said. “They estimated that there were 600 pounds of ice on each pole and they had 50-mph winds.

“We had some braces break on a highline in Joppa,” Bennett said. “It was pretty hairy because everything was coated with ice. You had to take your time working so you wouldn't get hurt.”

Bennett also worked in the tiny community of Holcomb, Missouri. “We had to bring in generators to back feed the substation,” Bennett said. “Everything was down on the ground. The people were without power for a week, but they were wonderful. I never heard a cross word from anyone.”

He has been a lineman for 42 years and believes the last few years have had more storms than he can remember.

Timothy McTier and Fletcher James, Georgia Power

Timothy McTier said that Georgia Power crews have done most of their storm cleanup work this past year in the summer. Thunderstorms in the area have been heavy with lighting.

“The line equipment is built to withstand some lightning, but a direct strike to a transformer will take it right out,” McTier said.

In his seven years as a lineman, McTier has realized that he can work far beyond what he thought were his limitations. “Team work really comes into play,” he said. “When you get a crew that clicks well together, you can really get a lot done. Usually the fatigue doesn't set in until you are driving home after a job.”

He said he has learned a lot about himself on the job. Being patient, calm and level-headed are critical for a lineman. “Accidents happen when people try to take shortcuts to speed up the process,” McTier said. “You might get the work done more quickly, but in the end, it isn't worth it.”

One storm cleanup project that stood out for Fletcher James this past year is the Kentucky ice storm. The crew worked for 10 days for 16 hours at a time. The bone-chilling cold made that job particularly memorable.

“The cold really drove us to get customers' power back on,” James said. “You can go without many things, but electricity isn't one of them. I take my hat off to the people of Kentucky who went through that.”

To help combat the cold, Georgia Power bought the crews toe and hand warmers. They also sent the crews regular updates on ways to keep warm. Since all the restaurants were without power, crews ate in an enormous tent warmed by portable heaters. A caterer made the men breakfast and dinner and provided them with box lunches.

“We are such a large utility that we bring everything and everybody on those jobs,” James said. “I may be biased, but I think we are one of the best utilities at helping other utilities following a storm. We often have crews from other utilities visiting us to learn our best practices. Of course, we are constantly learning from other utilities as well.”

James said the other utilities appreciate Georgia Power's help, as do the customers. “We'll go down the interstate and see people holding up thank-you signs and waving.”

Another challenge of working at the Kentucky storm was dealing with the excessive ice and slick streets. Side streets were coated in 4 inches of ice. The crews had to climb a lot of poles because they couldn't risk getting the heavy trucks stuck in the snowy fields.

“I'm amazed that the people of Kentucky are able to deal with all that snow and ice,” James said. “In Atlanta, one inch of snow shuts down our city.”

Tom Brady and Kenneth Page, Progress Energy

Tom Brady, another linemen dispatched to help in Kentucky, found that their utility terrain vehicles were critical to negotiating inches of ice.

“We used the UTVs to scope out the damage, then would bring the trucks to the work site if the snow wasn't too deep,” Brady said. “If it was, then we put the tools in the flatbeds of the UTVs and headed back. Before, we would have had to carry the tools and sometimes walk a mile or more back into the woods.”

Brady and his crew spent the night in a warehouse and an idle mill in Kentucky, where 500 or more cots were filled with linemen from across the country. He's also assisted on storm repairs in Texas, where visiting linemen were housed in an enormous tent city at the local airport.

He enjoys assisting on out-of-town repairs because of the opportunity to interact with crews from other utilities. “People do things different ways, and you can learn a lot by talking to linemen from other utilities,” Brady said. “You also get the chance to explain how your utility does things. One thing about this job is that you can do it all your life and you are always learning.”

Brady said he also appreciates the bonds he has formed with fellow storm team members. “You spend a lot of time with these guys and you look out for each other,” he said.

Kenneth Page, a lineman for 22 years, has worked on numerous storms over the years. “We rotate storm work to share both the joy and the misery,” Page said. “The joy comes from helping someone who has been without power for 12 days to restore their lives.”

Page said that it can be physically grueling to travel long hours to assist another utility but that leading out-of-state crews on cleanup in his own area has been more challenging.

“Hurricanes Floyd and Hugo came through Carolina and we had crews come assist us,” Page said. “I helped manage crews from Virginia, Michigan and Florida. After the crews leave, you still have a lot of work to do. Also, you are often dealing with problems from other years, such as damaged poles and sagging lines.

“Each utility has its own methodology in managing crews,” Page said. “We break down sections of the system and are assigned a substation or different sections of the line. We usually spend two hours assessing the damage in each area before we start making repairs.”

Page said a lot of storms have ripped through the Carolinas over the years, and Progress Energy crews have gotten good at responding. “We've earned a lot of industry awards on our storm response. When you have a lot of storms, you get a lot of practice.

“Most people outside of the power industry don't realize that every third or fourth week, you are on call,” Page said. “From one little old lady without power to whole neighborhoods, even on holidays, if the power goes out, you have to be ready to roll.”

So, when the skies darken and the winds pick up, these men stand a little straighter. They know their time to strap on the gear and head out is fast approaching. When it does, not matter what type of storm it is, they'll be ready to respond.