Timber! Fallen trees bring extra business

By Jon Moffett

Inclement weather extended work hours for laborers.

NILES — When the trees are down, business is up. A bad day for homeowners turned out to be a good day for the tree service industry.

“My phone hasn’t stopped ringing since I got in this morning,” Dave Cauley, owner of Bazetta Tree Service in Cortland, said Monday morning after Sunday’s windstorms toppled trees throughout the Valley.

“It’s been ringing off the hook all day.”

While Cauley kept busy fielding calls, three crews worked to remove fallen trees and limbs from area homes and businesses. Bill Klingensmith headed a crew that filled its workday with appointments in Warren and Niles to keep up with the demand for tree services Monday.

Klingensmith said he has been involved in the tree service business for over 30 years. He said he started out working for his father, from whom he learned a great deal.

“My father owned a tree service [business] in Hubbard many years ago,” Klingensmith said while at a tree-clearing job in Niles. “I got started at a pretty young age and had a pretty good education and some pretty good teachers throughout the years. They taught me everything I know.”

“Working outdoors is the best part of the job,” Klingensmith said. “I was introduced to it at a very young age, and I really do enjoy the work. Of course, sometimes it can be a real nightmare, but that comes with the territory.”

He added that, unlike most jobs, his role as crew foreman poses a new challenge every day.

William Kline, 27, was part of Klingensmith’s crew Monday. He has worked in the tree service for eight years and agreed with Klingensmith’s assessment.

“Also, it’s exciting to be 90 feet in the air and cutting big tops out of trees,” Kline said.

One of Klingensmith’s appointments was at a home on Washington Avenue in Warren that suffered severe damage when a large tree crashed through the roof, dislodging the chimney.

Klingensmith said the damage compares to the tornado of 1985 “as far as trees being damaged.” More than a dozen people were killed after a series of tornadoes ripped through parts of the Valley in May 1985.

“It seems like every other house has limbs down everywhere. We usually do get a lot of thunderstorms in the spring, and we’ve had more than our share of damage in the area, but this is probably the worst I’ve seen in several years,” he said.

Though Kline hasn’t seen as many storms as Klingensmith, he agreed.

“It’s not the worst I’ve ever seen, but it’s so widespread; it’s all over the place. And with no rain, it’s probably the worst windstorm we’ve had in a while.”

Although he doesn’t like to see people’s homes damaged by storms, the cleanup means extra work for the crew, Kline said.

“I knew this was coming, and I was like, ‘Yes! We’re getting hours this week!’” Kline said. “I was counting on this. Last night when I heard the wind, I knew that we’d be busy all day.”

The heavy workload has Klingensmith looking up as well.

“Oh, we’ll be working until dark for the next few days,” Klingensmith said, “or maybe the next few weeks, judging by what I’ve seen so far.”

jmoffett@vindy.com