ALTADENA, Calif. — After the early January wildfires in Southern California, the Eaton and Palisades fire zones have been left with an estimated 7.5 million tons of debris to clean up. Given the number of historical homes in the area, this debris requires specialized treatment and must be transported to designated landfills. Ensuring this is done correctly is a major reason the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deployed in support of the mission.
Tracking the movement of debris and recording its final destination is done through load tickets. Maintaining records of those tickets falls to the database management team.
One of their members is Roselle Pettit, an engineering technician from the Sacramento District, working out of the Tucson office. She typically supports the Construction Division as a lead admin for civil works. On this deployment, Pettit and others manually process each debris ticket.
“We check the tickets that dump quality assurance supervisors upload photos and data to. We look over the tickets and ensure all the details are correct. This software allows the truck drivers to get paid for their work,” Pettit said.
Because the process is manual, human error is one of the biggest challenges.
“One of the most common problems comes from information being written in the wrong area—specifically, the truck number being written where the weight should go. Each truck uses a six-digit identification number, so this is a huge problem. We also frequently get blurry, upside-down or backwards photos, which makes recording accurate numbers even more difficult,” Pettit said.
To streamline the process for herself and future teams, Pettit created a full standard operating procedure (SOP) for her section.
“With so many codes on these tickets, we frequently had to stop and ask our supervisor what they meant. I started recording them to make things easier and am compiling that information into slides that explain the codes and how to spot errors. I’ve also created slides for drivers and QAS with examples of good and bad ticket photos,” she said.
Pettit previously deployed to Georgia in response to Hurricane Helene from January to February 2025 and was able to put that experience to use right away.
“In Georgia, we didn’t work directly with USACE officers or contracting. We collected the numbers from contractors and compared what we received to what was reported. Here, we just check the tickets—but not against reports. It’s a big difference, and it lets me spot errors more easily,” Pettit said.
Thankfully, her attitude remains positive in the face of all the changes.
“I ask myself how I can make the work better, and what I can do to help.”
For those interested in working in database management, Pettit offers this advice:
“You need to ask questions and learn about the mission. Once someone explains the mission and database management, they’ll grow into the role. Once you learn the codes and how to read the tickets, it all starts to click. Having easy-to-follow instructions can help—I learned the Excel requirements just from screenshots.”
Pettit also emphasizes the importance of self-care.
“While the process is simple, I sit for hours and hours. My back gets tight, and my eyes start to strain. Taking breaks and stretching is one of the biggest keys to success in this role.”
| Date Taken: | 05.09.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.09.2025 18:12 |
| Story ID: | 497563 |
| Location: | ALTADENA, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 7 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Tracking the Cleanup: USACE Technician Powers Debris Data Operations, by Jordan Raiff, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
