Line and tree crews have come from as far away as Kansas, Ohio and Michigan.
11.3.2011 | LONGMEADOW - Marty Kinzle, a supervisor from Westar Energy of Manhattan, Kansas, with his crew at Route 5 and Mill Road in Longmeadow. Photo by George Graham.
LONGMEADOW – A line crew from Kansas, after a grueling three-day drive, hit the ground running when they arrived here shortly after darkness fell Wednesday.
The eight-man crew, linemen from Westar Energy, pulled up to a storm-ravaged stretch of Mill Road at about 6 p.m. and worked until 1 a.m.
After a few hours of shut-eye at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, the crew was back in Longmeadow by 7 a.m. They will probably work there until 9 p.m. Thursday.
It’s pretty severe,” said Marty Kinzle, supervisor of crew, of the damage that he has seen so far. “Lots of tree damage, lots of lines down,” he said. “Fortunately, we don’t have to deal with putting a lot of poles in the ground.”
Westar, based in Manhattan, Kansas, sent a total of about 80 linemen to the region following the Saturday storm. They are part of an out-of-state force that includes line and tree crews from Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia, Vermont.
Kinzle said Westar plans to keep them here for two weeks and will rotate in more personnel after that if necessary.
The crew is working here with their counterparts from WMECO.
“They are very safe,” said James DiBernardo, lead line mechanic for WMECO, paying, perhaps, the ultimate compliment that one lineman can give to another.
Kinzle’s crew planned to spend tonight in an area motel and after that their accommodations are not yet clear. Hotel and motel rooms are in short supply as both powerless residents and out-of-state lineman seek places to stay.”
“We live day to day,” he said. “The power company is doing the best it can and we understand, we are okay with that.”
One of the perks of the job, Kinzle said, is that the gratitude expressed by residents. “Really nice people come by and say ‘thanks’ for the hard work,” he said. “That’s what’s it’s about, helping people. We know what it’s like not to have power....We will be out here until we get it all cleaned up.”
As if on cue, a woman pulled up, rolled down the window of her sports utility vehicle and said “Thanks so much, we really appreciate what you are doing.”
Kinzle thanked the woman and she drove away.
“There you go,” Kinzle said to a reporter.
11.3.2011 | LONGMEADOW - James DiBernardo, a lead line mechanic for Western Massachusetts Electric Company was part of a crew working at Route 5 and Mill Road in Longmeadow Thursday. Photo by George Graham. Kinzle said that Westar sees it’s share of damage from tornadoes and ice storms in Kansas and that the lineman often travel out-of state.
“We just had guys up here for the hurricane in Woodstock, New York,” said Dary Roeser, a journeyman lineman from Westar.
Kinzle was surprised to hear of the tornadoes that tore through here on June 1, not too far away from where they were working.
DiBernardo, gobbling down what appeared to be a roast beef sandwich during a quick lunch break at Mill Road and Route 5, said out-of-state utility crews work under the host utility’s safety rules while they are here.
Although work appeared to be at a standstill for the moment at the intersection, DiBernardo said they were waiting for workers to ground both sides of the line that they were working on.
“If it’s not ground it’s not dead,” said DiBernardo, president of the local 455 said.. “We have to hurry up and wait.”
The work has to proceed in orderly stages for safety, DiBernardo said. This includes damage assessment, creating a safe work zone and the grounding procedures, he said.
In Westfield, at least 35 out-of-state utility workers received housing and dinner at Westfield State University’s Juniper Park Elementary School Wednesday night.
Crews were housed in the school’s gymnasium area, separate from an emergency shelter for area residents located in another section of the school.
The workers were offered housing again for Thursday night but Westfield Gas and Electric Department spokesman Sean P. Fitzgerald said motel rooms were being secured for them.
About 80 out-of-state electrical workers slept at the Robert Crown Center at Hampshire College Wednesday night and were expected to sleep there again Thursday night, said Mark Spiro, vice president for finance and administration.
The college provided the workers with breakfast, a boxed lunch and dinner. They also provided linens, towels and showers while the workers brought their own cots. The college’s recreation center is located in the center.
“We thought it was the right thing to do,“ Spiro said. “Many of our neighbors have yet to have electricity. We thought it was a good way to help the community.“
He said he expected the workers would finish their work Thursday and not be staying over Friday night.
The Holyoke Gas and Electric Department is being helped by repair crews from Braintree, Mass. and from North Carolina and Virginia. They are staying at the War Memorial, 310 Appleton St., and Holyoke Geriatric Authority, 45 Lower Westfield Road, officials said.
Staff writers Ted LaBorde, Diane Lederman and Mike Plaisance contributed to this report.