Andrew is the on the field play caller at Dirt Hugger. Every morning he sets the game plan for site flow, compost recipes, and logistics. The attribute of our site quarterback is the ability to audible, which usually happens by 9 am everyday. Bad weather, good weather, windy weather, canceled loads, additional loads all keep Andrew on his toes while calling plays but staying on the field to help. Born and raised in The Dalles Oregon, most of his experience came from operating heavy equipment and CDL driving. He started as an operator with Dirt Hugger in 2014 at the site in The Dalles, OR. New to composting the owners really made an effort to educate him in the process of making quality compost. Shortly after starting Dirt Hugger began to move sites to Dallesport Washington. Dirt Hugger is now quadrupling the volume of that in 2014. Now in the role of Operations Manager he really enjoys this role and helping newcomers learn all about composting. Most of the knowledge of composting has come from on the job training, peers in the industry, as well as CFOT courses. He oversees the composting of over 50,000 tons per year and sales of over 35,000 yards per year of organic compost using a turned aerated static pile system with reversing aeration.

Session Code: 2A

Track: Operations

Session Name: Fire Safety

Session Time: Wednesday, February 7, 1:45 – 3:15 PM

Presentation Title: How to Deal with a Fire Once It’s Started: Lessons Learned from Multiple Facility Fires over Eight Years

Presentation Description: Over its 13 year history Dirt Hugger has had our fair share of fires. We have seen the classic: stockpiles, overs piles, active piles, but also equipment burn downs and wildfires that blew into the site. Learn from eight year site manager Andrew Voodrehow to deal with the fires once they’ve started. This includes interfacing with the fire department, managing your team’s response, and sleeping on site for fire watch. Compost fires aren’t a quick fix and require a sustained effort and strategy to quell.