- Born in Fresno, California, and has four siblings.
- His older sister is married to a lineman, and his father retired from PG&E before moving to TC Energy.
- Married to his wife, Brittany, and has a two-and-a-half-year-old son, Tobias, and a baby born in April 2022.
- Enjoys spending time with family, traveling, participating in outdoor fitness activities, doing Muay Thai, boxing and wrestling. He has a brown belt in Brazilian Ju Jitsu.
- Likes training and competing in the Lineman’s Rodeos and spending time with other competitors.
- Can’t live without his climber and belt. He also likes using his friend’s hot stick with a swivel end and the Milwaukee Tool presses, electric cutter and socket guns.
Early Years
My father inspired me to work in the line trade. He worked for PG&E on the natural gas side. When I was a child, I remember watching him compete at the International Lineman’s Rodeo, where his team placed 11th. My brother-in-law is also a lineman, and I have many other family members in the trade including my great-grandfather. After I decided to go into the line trade, my first job as an apprentice was to install new housing rack in the Temecula, California, area.
Day in the Life
I now work as a lineman foreman for Sturgeon Electric California. We are reconductoring and replacing poles on the SCE 33 kV lines from Hemet to Idllywild, California. Some of the lines going up the mountain are accessible by truck, but we also can use a helicopter or climb poles.
During a typical work day, I am responsible for describing the scope of work to my crew and attending tailboard meetings. After we take an outage, we replace or reframe a few poles and replace the primary. When the crew finishes the structures, I drive out on the line and communicate with all the crews. Once the line has been energized, I check to make sure all the customers have their power restored.
Challenges and Rewards
The major challenges are working in the different weather conditions and terrain. The rewards are providing for my family and being home most evenings. I am also able to work around linemen who I consider to be my friends and have come up with in the trade. I also enjoy seeing my apprentices grow and become line hands.
Safety Lesson
On one job, we were setting poles with a helicopter. The two linemen on the pole were removing all the strains. When they were preparing to drop down the lose down guy, they noticed the pole start to move and fall into the new pole hole. The existing pole was only in the ground about 3 ft and ended up falling completely over to the ground. Thankfully, both linemen only experienced minor injuries. It changed my view of safety. Now, I assume all possible hazards even the unforeseen ones.
Memorable Storm
In 2018, we responded to the Malibu fire storm from the beginning of November to Christmas Eve. Three main lines completely burned down, and our job was to install new H structures and new 336 ATW and 4/o copper cover wires with the help of the SCE helicopter crews. The utility had everything covered from food, hotel, clothes and cleaning services, etc. One of the best moments of that storm was on Thanksgiving Day working with my guys. We were tasked with replacing an H structure with a crane. After we had our tailboard meeting, I climbed the burnt structure with some of my friends and had a great time. We then joined together with our families for Thanksgiving dinner, and it was one of my most memorable Thanksgiving holidays.
Plans for the Future
I would do it again. I love this trade and have so many friends who came from it. My plans for the future are to keep working and moving forward. I want to do my best to make the jobs safe, efficient and enjoyable. I hope I can set a good example and provide leadership and a great work environment for the existing and future line hands.
