Kevin Fines, senior tree trimmer for Marine Corps Base Quantico, and his crew work to cut up the trunk of a cedar tree behind Lejeune Hall on Jan. 27.
It’s evident that Marine Corps Base Quantico does not lack one thing: Trees. And with the base covering more than 60,000 acres that’s a lot of trees.
It’s up to someone to maintain them, which is where the tree trimmers aboard Quantico come in.
‘‘We get a lot of work orders this time of the year because of the weather,” said James Brent, the senior tree trimmer for Marine Corps Base Quantico. ‘‘The trees can’t support the snow. It’s a very difficult job and we are considered essential personnel.”
Brent, along with another tree trimmer and his crew of sixlaborers, were carefully working to cut up stump from a cedar tree located behind the parking lot of Lejeune Hall on Jan. 27.
‘‘People think you can come and cut a tree in five minutes, but it doesn’t work like that. It could take all day to take a tree down. We have to comply with OSHA’s [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] rules and Base Safety” explained Brent. ‘‘It’s a different scenario for each tree.”
The danger hasn’t passed once the tree is on the ground either.
When employees feed tree limbs and branches into chippers they are at risk of getting caught in the machine and being pulled into the fast-turning chipper knives, as stated in the OSHA Web site.
‘‘Safety comes first,” said Brent, when is comes to tree trimming. ‘‘We deal with trees near power lines and vehicles, it can be challenging.”
Once the job is done all the material is consolidated.
‘‘We dump it into a pile that the fire department burns.”
Brent and his crew work more than your average 9-to-5 job.
‘‘We are on call. If a tree falls in the middle of the night we get a call and come pick it up,” said Brent. ‘‘We just do our job to the best of our ability.”
To report a fallen tree, call the Facilities Maintenance help desk at 703-784-2072.
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