Residents, running out of food, needing help in snow-covered San Bernardino County mountain community

Residents are desperate for help in the San Bernardino County mountain communities after an unprecedented snowstorm dumped upwards of 10 feet of snow in the area.

Glenn Bolden lives in Crestline with his mother, and he describes the dire situation there.

"It makes me emotional because I'm taking care of my mom, and she's already had two strokes in the past two years. We've been snowed in for the same amount of time and no one's been able to go anywhere," said Bolden.

Bolden said they ran out of food, and they have no heat at their house.

"It's been very emotional and chaotic. Yesterday at around 5:30 a.m., I woke up to cracking noises and looked up at the living room ceiling and it was buckling. Throughout the day, it just progressed to get worse and worse and worse to where the water started seeping through the roof," said Bolden.

Bolden said his brother-in-law helped them reach out to the correct people, and their landlord is now allowing them to stay at a nearby clubhouse. His neighbors also rallied to help.

"Our neighbors came and helped us dig a path through so we could get out. We didn't have any food so I reached out to one of the Facebook pages and a lot of people out here are pretty generous. They helped out a lot. You don't meet people like that anymore, and we've had offers of people saying we could stay at their house until the snow clears," he said.

Bolden said the mountain communities need serious help.

"We need a lot of resources, way more than what we're getting right now," he said.

Bolden said insurance will cover the house itself, but not their belongings. He has created a GoFundMe page to help during this time. Those looking to help can click here for more information.

According to officials, San Bernardino County Fire’s Incident Management Team (IMT) has taken command of the storm aftermath and is working diligently to address needs. Mutual aid resources continue to arrive to assist with emergency response, infrastructure repair and snow removal. Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency in response to severe winter storms that have impacted San Bernardino County.

San Bernardino County Fire released the following update:

San Bernardino County Fire has remained extremely busy responding to medical emergencies, rescues, and fire incidents. County Fire continues to respond in Snow Cat apparatus, Fire Engines and Medic Ambulances to emergencies.

We understand that for those affected by the storm, any response will never be fast enough. San Bernardino County Fire has responded to a typical number of structure fires in our Mountain areas. It appears the fires are related to the storm. The fires remain under investigation by fire investigators and are working hand in hand with our utility companies.

We encourage residents to call 911 if there are power lines down near their home or a smell of natural gas. If there is a gas leak or a concern of a gas leak we encourage residents to shut the gas off at the meter. Gas service restoration may take several days due to road conditions and the level of service calls.We are fortunate to have been able to continually respond to emergency calls despite extremely challenging road conditions. Our robust fleet of Snow Cats and four-wheel drive apparatus have been vital to effectively respond. As the weather transitions in our favor, we expect to make continued progress at an increasing rate.

San Bernardino County has stood up a call center to assist. The call center can be reached 24/7 at tel:9093873911. For urgent medical issues, residents should dial 911. Emergency phone services are operational in all mountain areas. County Fire are utilizing special snow vehicles to access snowed-in emergencies.