How do you get 150,000 pounds of cement up the side of a mountain with only 12 men and no air support?
One small load at a time, according to C Hill project coordinator Mike Roach, who says volunteers may have to manually heave 150 tons of cement high above Carson City to the C Hill site, to reinstate the huge American flag formerly posted above the city's trademark white "C."
"We're facing an enormous task," Roach said.
Last month's Waterfall fire burned away all vegetation around the C Hill site, complicating plans to use an Army National Guard helicopter to airlift heavy building materials up the hill from the Carson Middle School field.
"We want to be involved with this effort," said Nevada Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer and helicopter pilot Sean Laycox, "but right now there is a concern about downwash in the area."
"Downwash" of debris created by circulating helicopter blades could easily turn into a blinding dust storm, Laycox said - with high risk of a helicopter crash.
In the meantime, Roach and other volunteers are brainstorming alternatives, including trucking the material in and using a Caterpillar handler to lower it down into the site.
Tuesday afternoon, Roach and 12 prison workers filled two holes at the site with 120 bags of cement. Now they have 53 holes and more than 30,000 bags to go.
This isn't the first glitch in volunteer efforts to maintain an American Flag on the C Hill site. After raising nearly $10,000 in building materials they successfully posted a flag October 2001, but winds from a winter storm Dec. 14, 2002, tore it to pieces and damaged the metal support frame, sending volunteers back to square one.
Plans to re-create the flag earlier this year were also dashed by the beginning of fire season, when National Guard helicopters were called away to help with fire suppression efforts.
During another attempt on June 14 to air-lift a 9,000-pound load of cement with a National Guard helicopter, a metal platform holding the load snapped after take-off, when it was just a few feet above the ground.
Roach said residents living in homes along the helicopter's flight path were worried for their safety.
"That sent shivers down everyone's spines," Roach said, "the thought of that happening over someone's house."
Laycox said the threat of falling cement can be avoided by using a metal Conex air transport box instead of a platform to move materials - but he doesn't foresee it happening in the near future.
"There is no more vegetation there now than there was at the end of the fire," Laycox said. "That's not going to change soon."
Roach said he would like to have the flag in place in time for the Nevada Day Parade Oct. 30, but he's not making any promises.
"It's going to take a lot of manual labor," Roach said. "We'll take all the help we can get."
What: Help return the flag to C Hill
To volunteer labor, contact: Mike Roach, 720-3598
To donate goods or services, contact: Robin Williamson, 883-9577
To make a financial contribution,
contact: Chris MacKenzie, 687-0202
Online at: www.c-hill.us
Contact Robyn Moormeister at rmoormeister@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1215.
