Big Bear Valley, CA — The Valley-wide chipping program, still offered free of charge but now offered on-demand, has been underway since the beginning of the month—and, already, the toll-free chipping hotline at 877-771-CHIP has received over 650 requests for service. Of these, over 570 requests have been processed (as of June 23), meaning chipper crews have made curbside stops to pick up tree limbs and dead vegetation and chip it into mulch. The Valley’s fire agencies—Big Bear Lake and Big Bear City Fire Departments and San Bernardino County Fire—tell KBHR that the remaining requests will be completed within a few days. To participate in the free chipping program, once defensible space has been cleared from your property, call 877-771-CHIP to leave your address for the chipping crews which, this year, are comprised of local contractors. To allow for this free service to continue, fire agencies ask that you log your hours spent creating defensible space on the website ThinIsIn.org—to date, 884 hours have been logged by the community, which will assist in future grant funding efforts for Big Bear. As you leave your curbside piles for the chipping crews, fire agencies remind that construction debris, root balls, leaves and pine needles and cut lumber are not accepted.
Update: As of Friday morning, June 25, there have been 720 requests for chipping services–and all of these have been processed! Hours logged on ThinIsIn.org now total nearly 1,000. (Good job, Big Bear!)
