Career up in the air? Not a problem

Until recently, Diane Perez was taking classes to be a teacher. And then it occurred to her that she might better enjoy a job that involved the outdoors, physical stamina and the slight chance of being electrocuted.

And, thus, Perez was one of about 100 students who gathered at the East Los Angeles Skills Center on Saturday morning for the school’s first “lineman rodeo” for aspiring utility linemen -- or linewomen.

Perez, whose father had been a lineman for a short time, was a liberal studies major at Pasadena City College and hoped to teach.

“But my father was always talking about electrical stuff when I was growing up, and I wanted something that was a little more hands-on and that was exciting -- not that teaching kids isn’t exciting.”

Lineman rodeos are held nationwide and offer competitive events for people who do the job for a living. Saturday’s event was slightly different, with students demonstrating the skills they are learning instead of contending for prizes.

Perez, the only woman in the class, earned applause for shimmying up a pole, putting on a harness and then leaning out over empty space to replace parts on a crossbar.

Among other events were the obstacle pole, the knot challenge and synchronized climbing.

Who would want to be a utility lineman? Apparently many. The lineman class at the skills center can accommodate about 100 students, and there is a waiting list of 2,000 names. The skills center is run by the Los Angeles Unified School District and offers vocational training for adults.

There’s good reason for the program’s popularity: The jobs are out there.

The event was sponsored in part by Southern California Edison, the massive utility that officials say will need 10,000 linemen and other electrical workers over the next decade as many power systems built after World War II are refurbished and an older workforce begins retiring.

“This kind of stuff isn’t as sexy as it used to be, and a lot of schools today don’t teach mechanical skills like they used to,” said Walt Johnston, a vice president of power delivery for the utility. “But society can’t exist without electricity, and while the work is dangerous, these kids can make good money.

“If one of our linemen isn’t making six figures,” Johnston added, “it’s because they don’t feel like it.”

It was clear from the beginning of the day that the event was serious.

During the opening ceremonies, two students clambered atop a telephone pole. As singer Lee Greenwood’s “I’m Proud to Be an American” blared from speakers, an American flag was hoisted to them in a glitter-covered bucket and unfurled.

The first event: the hurt man rescue, in which students showed how to efficiently and gently rescue a dummy from the top of a utility pole. The dummy, the crowd was told by one of the students, had suffered a heart attack.

Next up: a fireproof clothing demonstration, in which a blowtorch was unleashed on four hot dogs serving as stand-ins for electrical workers. The hot dogs were wearing, respectively, nothing at all, cotton, polyester and fire-retardant Nomex.

“You never want to wear polyester near a flame,” student Xavier Carbajo told the crowd. “It would melt your skin.”

The hot dog in the Nomex, however, fared far better and emerged with a healthy pink glow after the Nomex was peeled away.

Other events Saturday included demonstrations of climbing and of handling heavy equipment at heights.

“I love a challenge and taking a risk,” said Ramon Cravin, 23, of Inglewood, who previously worked as a locker attendant at Los Angeles city swimming pools. “Yes, the money is good, but it’s not about that. What makes this a great trade is that not everyone can do it.”

steve.hymon@latimes.com