Dirt Talk by BuildWitt: Episode DT 372

Guest: Alan Guy (Anvil Builders)
Host: Aaron Witt with co-host Chris
Date: September 11, 2025

Episode Overview

This candid episode features a deep-dive conversation between Aaron Witt and Alan Guy (with frequent input from Chris), focusing on Anvil Builders’ leadership in fire disaster response and civil construction across California. Alan shares hard-won insights from nearly a decade of wildfire rebuild work — most recently, the massive fire cleanups in Los Angeles — and reflects on the logistics, human stories, management lessons, and shifting industry dynamics that define this challenging space. The episode closes with a look at the unique pressures of rebuilding after catastrophe, the evolution of Anvil’s business, and a frank assessment of California’s regulatory and insurance landscape.

Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. The Fundamentals of Civil Construction & Tracking Performance

• Production-Driven Mindset: Alan emphasizes that at its core, civil construction is about installing something at a production rate (yardage, linear feet, tonnage, etc.), and underscores the importance of constantly tracking labor versus production.
  • Quote [00:20 | Alan]: “If you really break civil construction down, it’s installing something at a production rate… there should be something tracked.”
• Building a Performance Culture: Alan points out that while experienced crews can often "just get it done", you can’t grow or improve without data and clear expectations — especially with a younger, purpose-driven workforce.
  • Quote [00:58 | Alan]: “If you don’t tell [employees] they’re doing good or bad, you’re never going to get more.”
• Communication & Competition: Setting clear goals spurs crews to innovate and improve and taps into natural competitiveness, akin to amateur sports.

2. Anvil’s Path in Wildfire Disaster Response

• First Forays & Scaling Up
  • Anvil entered wildfire cleanup with the 2017 Santa Rosa/Tubs Fire and steadily grew to become the most experienced self-performing contractor in California for fire work.
  • Quote [04:12 | Alan]: “In less than 10 years, we started not knowing how to do it... California burns down more than anywhere else in the world, so we’ve probably done more of it than anybody.”
• How Fire Cleanups Work
  • Every job is “property by property”— crews meticulously clean each lot, sort debris (metal, concrete, ash), and coordinate recycled material.
  • Homeowners must authorize (Right of Entry forms); funding varies between FEMA, state, and county.
  • Quote [08:05 | Alan]: “You can't... take a bulldozer, pile up the whole neighborhood... liability reasons. You have to go onto one site, meet with homeowners, see what they want done, sort the metal...”
• The Human Factor:
  • Alan describes the emotional dimension — from praying with homeowners to the sense of purpose his team derives from being “second responders.”
    • Quote [16:31 | Alan]: “We are the first step in people starting their lives that just lost everything... The majority of the time the homeowners show up and are super thankful for our men and women.”
  • The fire cleanup experience is immediate, emotionally raw, and extremely visible compared to most infrastructure jobs.

3. Inside the 2025 LA Fire Cleanup — Fastest in California History

Timeline & Scale

• Fires ignited January (Palisades & Altadena); Anvil started work by February 1st.
• Scale: 6,000+ structures lost, 80+ Anvil crews (5-6 people each), 500+ workers mobilized in weeks.
  • Quote [26:36 | Alan]: “Seven, 80-something crews… 500 or 600 people.”
• Logistics: 93 Cat 325 excavators, 2,000 dump trucks, numerous subcontracted resources; laydown yards and local partnerships arranged on the fly, work ran 24/7.
  • Quote [29:16 | Alan]: “We gathered. We had 93 325s down there at the peak. And we did a third of the work.”
• Property Focus: Each lot is a “mini jobsite”; from demolition to grading, every crew works independently.
  • Quote [32:59 | Alan]: “It’s crazy because…80 crews…that’s like 80 individual job sites going on a day.”

Processes & Unique Challenges

• Fastest start ever: three weeks from fire out to cleanup (normally 1–2 months).
• Detailed materials processing: Temporary sorting yard set up on a burned golf course for trees/concrete/metal.
• Mass logistics: around-the-clock fueling, equipment moves, and supply (even burrito-wrapping of dump loads with plastic).
• Intense public scrutiny: Anvil faced social media criticism for “not being local,” use of new machines, and for moving quickly.
• Memorable moment [14:06 | Alan]: “There was a billion-dollar job starting…the biggest job in the world... and it was us. It was kind of cool.”

Efficiency & Results

• 98% complete in Altadena within 4 months — a speed record.
  • Quote [37:02 | Alan]: “It’s the fastest. I mean, we’re 98% done in Altadena.”
  • Quote [38:03 | Aaron]: “The response was quite, quite good... I don’t think it really could have been better.”

4. Industry, Government, and Social Dynamics

Government Partnerships & Project Management

• ECC as “prime”: Anvil and others executed, ECC held contracts with government bodies (Army Corps, CalRecycle, counties).
• Contract methodologies varied (“by the lot,” “by the ton,” etc.).
• Criticism of red-tape and permitting — but for this emergency, agencies aligned to enable remarkable speed.

Social Inequity & Media Focus

• Noted that higher-media-coverage neighborhoods (Palisades) got more attention, while working-class Altadena suffered more structural loss.
  • Quote [24:29 | Alan]: “Altadena is lower income... more working class people. There was a lot of focus... this is the priority.”
• The “celebrity factor” in disaster response and equitable recovery is discussed.

Handling Criticism

• Anvil faced accusations of “taking advantage” and bringing in out-of-area crews, which Alan viewed as both misunderstanding and resistance to outside help.
  • Quote [41:10 | Aaron]: “Even the new excavator thing, that was…people were harping on that. Must be making a lot of money with all those brand new machines.”
• Alan stresses that rapid mobilization and equipment acquisition are necessity, not profit opportunity.

5. Building & Keeping a High-Performing, Connected Workforce

• Communication Systems: Layered management, clear accountability, and frequent meetings developed over seven years of disaster experience.
  • Quote [61:39 | Alan]: “It’s layers and layers of management all the way down and holding people accountable and setting up simple systems… This is what’s expected every day. If you don’t do it, you’re gone.”
• Recruitment & Motivation:
  • Attracting “hungry, top talent” requires challenging projects and a workplace with meaning.
  • Alan and Aaron critique the “entitled employer” mindset and advocate for creating standout environments for both talent and customers.
• Generational Divide: Old-school “no news is good news” attitude versus young workers’ demand for feedback and meaning.
  • Quote [60:23 | Alan]: “The old school construction guys… the only reason you knew you were doing a good job is if you weren’t getting yelled at. The younger generation is constant positive, atta boys.”

6. Evolution into Tree & Utility Work

• Spurred by fire response (hazard trees), Anvil invested early in European mechanized forestry equipment (Senneboggen and Albach).
  • Quote [54:09 | Alan]: “There’s a lot of levers in those machines...part crane, part excavator.”
• Expanded from post-fire hazard removal into ongoing utility corridor maintenance (trimming and removal).
• Tree business alone now employs hundreds.
  • Quote [57:14 | Alan]: “We cut down 600 or touched 600 trees a day.”

7. Wider Reflections: Regulation, Insurance, and Recovery Challenges

• Regulatory Friction: Building permit complexity and post-disaster restrictions are a chronic barrier to rebuilding both in California and places like Maui.
  • Quote [75:57 | Aaron]: “Well, and then there you had the logistics of the waste… And so now I think it’s happening as we speak… All hauled to the middle of Maui...”
  • Quote [73:04 | Alan]: “It’s gonna be very interesting to see what California does with building permits and rebuilding… hopefully this is like the peak…of over regulation.”
• Insurance Crisis: With huge disaster losses, home insurance firms are withdrawing from the state, leaving homeowners vulnerable.
  • Quote [77:40 | Alan]: “Oh, yeah. I think it’s going to be. I don’t know what’s going to happen with [insurance]. It’s bad.”
• Human Toll of Disaster: The sheer logistical and emotional challenge for victims trying to rebuild, replace documentation, return to work, and piece life together in unstable neighborhoods.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• On “Second Responders”:
  • “We are the first step in people starting their lives that just lost everything... That’s a huge process. That’s a huge part of the grieving and recovering process is seeing your house, everything you own, taken out in dump trucks.” (16:31, Alan)
• On Massive Mobilization:
  • “We didn’t have a contract when we showed up. I didn’t have a yard… We had to get involved… That’s when we started mobilizing and moving and preparing.” (27:44, Alan)
• On Communication & Accountability:
  • “It’s layers and layers of management all the way down... This person manages this many people... If you don’t do it, you’re gone. You have to kind of manage it with an iron fist.” (61:39, Alan)
• On the Scale of Government Cooperation:
  • “A billion dollars in six months... In a normal scope, that’s a $10 billion, five-year job. The scale is insane.” (71:01, Alan)
• On the Future of Wildfires in California:
  • “Go figure. It just burns year-round… It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the next five to ten years in terms of water forest management.” (45:04, Alan)
• Human Cost Revealed:
  • “You lose your license… this is gonna take a week for me to figure out how to get a new one. And think about losing all of that stuff.” (81:37, Alan)

Major Timestamps

• [00:20–02:06] — Production tracking, motivation, workforce culture
• [04:06–10:46] — Anvil’s history, wildfire response approach, entry into firework
• [12:02–19:36] — 2025 LA fire: Operations, timeline, emotional context
• [24:11–29:44] — Media, logistics, mobilizing crews, emotional toll, competition
• [31:06–37:32] — Material handling, scale of work, government cooperation, billing
• [41:10–44:29] — Criticism, public perception, rapid expansion stress
• [50:02–57:24] — Growth into tree removal, specialized equipment, utility work
• [60:23–63:28] — Generational management, communication, civil lessons
• [73:04–80:36] — Permit & insurance challenges, the personal cost of disaster
• [81:37–82:56] — Realities of recovery, disaster center

Tone & Style

The conversation has a deeply grounded, “in-the-trenches” tone — candid, technical, sometimes irreverent, and woven with dry humor and honesty. Alan, Aaron, and Chris share stories and insights with a blend of pragmatism, industry passion, and respect for the people caught in disaster’s wake.

Closing Thought

Dirt Talk DT 372 pulls back the curtain on what it takes — logistically, emotionally, and structurally — to rebuild after catastrophe. It’s a must-listen for anyone curious about civil construction’s evolving demands, why process and communication matter, and the human side that so often gets overlooked in the headline coverage of disaster.

For full episode, visit [BuildWitt's Dirt Talk podcast feed].