Work by Volunteers Aids Cleanup Effort : Help: More than 130 along with conservation corps members slog up and down hillsides shoveling mud and toting sandbags, concentrating on shoring up land

Dominic Blurton said he was there “because it seemed like the right thing to do . . .

“I heard about all the flooding and everything, and I heard that they needed help,” the 23-year-old Cal State Northridge student said. “I’ve been trained as an emergency medical technician. I thought maybe they could use me.”

Blurton was one of more than 130 volunteers and members of the California and Los Angeles conservation corps who gathered at a hilltop building overlooking the San Fernando Valley on Wednesday to offer help--whatever kind was needed--in the wake of the destructive storms that had passed and in anticipation of a powerful one expected this weekend.

Because of his specialized training, Blurton was held in reserve at the command center at 10058 Reseda Blvd. in case of a medical emergency.

Rai Langford, 66, a retired truck dispatcher, was using his radio skills to keep track of the crews scattered across the Valley.

But most of those who volunteered--people like Rob Peterson, Jay Jarmillo and Adam Caselles, all 23-year-old students at colleges in Southern California--found themselves at less glamorous jobs like shoveling out mud and toting sandbags.

“We’d wanted to come down here, but we thought maybe we’d get in the way,” Caselles said. “Then we heard on the radio that they wanted help, so here we are.”

“I’ve always liked helping out,” said Peterson. “And I like being here in the middle of things.”

Jim Roberts, the California Conservation corps incident commander coordinating the assistance efforts in the Valley, said that most of the work was directed at shoring up rain-soaked hillsides that are threatening to buckle and slide if there is additional rain.

Esperanza Braza, 18, was a member of a Los Angeles conservation corps crew that had been working all morning on an eroded slope above Burgundy Road in Woodland Hills, laying down sheets of plastic in an effort to prevent further saturation and lessen the chance of a major landslide.

It was hard work, requiring the crew to slog repeatedly up and down the steep, muddy hillside, but Braza said she didn’t mind.

“I can keep up with the guys,” she said with a grin.

Dominic Prampin, 24, said he first joined the city corps “because it would keep me out of trouble . . .

“But now I have a good feeling, going out and helping the community,” he said. “It gives me a sense of accomplishment.”

Anthony Pacheco, 23, worked as a state conservation corps crew chief about a block away, trying to shore up another hillside that was threatening to tumble onto a house on Pera Road.

Like Braza and Prampin, Pacheco’s crew members had to crawl through the muck on their hands and knees at some of the steepest places to spread out the plastic sheets and anchor them in place with sand bags.

“This is a challenge,” Pacheco said. “But I think it’s going to work.”

Anita Sollazo, 35, stood watching, her 16-month-old son, Taylor, in her arms, as Pacheco’s crew toiled up and down the the slope behind her home.

“I’m sure glad they’re here,” she said.