Crestline neighbors band together as frustrated community continues to dig out of snow

Mountain residents still frustrated, digging out after more than a week

People in Crestline and Valley of Enchantment are increasingly frustrated as they continue to dig themselves out after massive snow storms.

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. - For almost two weeks people around Crestline have been digging themselves out. The sound of shovels scraping ice echoes on just about every street. Heavy equipment can also be heard working on what seems like a never ending amount of snow that needs to be plowed.

Choking back tears Fawn Duncan drives through a plowed road in Valley of Enchantment asking where she can get help digging.

"We’re in Cedar Pines Park which is the community furthest out in Crestline," she said, clearly exhausted. "People literally can’t get down to their homes, there’s nowhere to park."

Several are too narrow for more than one car to drive through, some berms have collapsed, once again covering the road with snow and ice. There are homes with sunken roofs, buckled balconies, and countless driveways with cars that are still buried.

San Bernardino Co. Sheriff responds to mountain rescue criticism

San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus says he knows people trapped in the mountains are frustrated, while clarifying what he called "misinformation" on the rescue efforts.

"This is the first day I was able to get over here and check in them," said Michael Cummings. Who had driven down from Lake Arrowhead to see his family.

"We had berms six feet high," he said, after they plowed. "We had to dig out for two days to get out."

Neighbors have banded together in Valley of Enchantment, organizing a food distribution center days before the county did so.
They said help wasn’t coming fast enough, so they gathered donations from locals and started handing out food in bags not boxes, so people who hiked out could carry them.

"The government is saying everything is cleared, "said a frustrated Megan Sanchez. "It’s crazy."

She and others here said instead of helping their efforts, the county bureaucracy has gotten in their way. They said because they are not an official distribution center they’ve had to battle to keep operating. They also question county officials who say help is getting to all who need it in the mountain.

"My streets didn’t get plowed till this morning," Sanchez said.

San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said, "we absolutely understand how they feel," when asked about those still trapped, and the many others who are frustrated with the response.

"Thank God for the neighbors helping neighbors, they've been instrumental in helping us get a handle of this," he said "We may not get to everybody as fast as they'd like to, but we're getting there."