California
Tree removal in San Bernardino County, CA
Tree removal in San Bernardino County: storm damage, trees on power lines, leaning and dead trees, and what the work costs. From 2016 through 2025 the National Weather Service logged 9 thunderstorm wind reports here that mention trees.
Call (888) 239-7893 free call, 24/7Calling is free and commits you to nothing. The work is priced after someone has seen the tree.
What is particular to San Bernardino County
Storm reports with trees in them
From 2016 through 2025 the National Weather Service logged 61 reports of damaging thunderstorm wind in San Bernardino County, and 9 of them mention trees, limbs or branches. It also logged 2 tornadoes. The latest report that mentions trees is dated July 24, 2024, near Bush. The places named most often in those tree reports are Needles (2), Barstow (1) and San Bernardino (1).
Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, 2016–2025
What brings trees down here
FEMA’s National Risk Index rates San Bernardino County’s risk from strong wind as relatively high. A tree with a new lean, a crack in the trunk or roots lifting the soil is the one to have looked at before the next storm.
If a tree is on a line
Call the electric utility before anyone else, and treat the line as live: OSHA’s guidance for tree crews is to assume all power lines are energized. EIA lists 8 electric utilities with service territory in San Bernardino County in 2024: Bear Valley Electric Service, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., Southern California Edison Co, Aha Macav Power Service, City of Colton, City of Needles, City of Victorville and Rancho Cucamonga Municipal Utility. Each publishes its own outage and downed-line number.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 service territories, 2024; OSHA QuickCard, Tree Trimming and Removal (OSHA 3301)
Homes and who decides
About 668,000 households live in San Bernardino County. About seven in ten homes are detached houses and about six in ten occupied homes are lived in by their owners. Half the homes were built before 1983.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-year estimates
Towns and communities in San Bernardino County
- San Bernardino
- Fontana
- Ontario
- Rancho Cucamonga
- Victorville
- Rialto
- Hesperia
- Chino
- Upland
- Chino Hills
- Apple Valley
- Redlands
- Highland
- Yucaipa
- Colton
- Adelanto
- Montclair
- Twentynine Palms
- Barstow
- Loma Linda
- Bloomington
- Yucca Valley
- Phelan
- Grand Terrace
- Big Bear City
- Muscoy
- Lake Arrowhead
- Crestline
- Spring Valley Lake
- Mentone
- Fort Irwin
- Oak Hills, CA
- Piñon Hills
- Joshua Tree
- Lucerne Valley
- Silver Lakes
- Running Springs
- Big Bear Lake
- Wrightwood
- Needles
- Morongo Valley
- Lenwood
- San Antonio Heights
- Mountain View Acres
- Homestead Valley
- Searles Valley
- Big River
Tree down, or about to come down?
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On the house or roofGet people out from under it, photograph everything, call the insurer, then a crew. -
On a power lineThe utility comes first. Stay away and treat the line as live. -
On a carPhotograph it where it lies. The car claim goes to the auto policy. -
On a fence or shedDamage to a fence or shed is often covered differently from the house. -
Across the driveway or roadOn the street it is the city’s call. In the driveway, check the policy first. -
After a stormHanging limbs, split trunks, trees on houses, and the ones that look fine. -
LeaningLifted soil or cracked roots at the base turn a lean into a warning. -
Dead or dyingDead wood is brittle and unpredictable, which is why it often costs more to remove. -
Split or cracked trunkTwo stems from one point, or a crack down the trunk, are common failure points. -
Hanging broken limbIt can fall without warning. Keep people and cars out from under it. -
A neighbor’s treeWeather is nobody’s fault. A tree the neighbor was warned about can be.
Rules in California
California licenses tree work through the Contractors State License Board. Since January 1, 2024 the classification is C-49 Tree and Palm Contractor, and every applicant sits a trade examination; tree service licenses issued before then, C-61/D-49, remain valid. Since January 1, 2025, work under $1,000 in labor and materials needs no license only if no permit is required and the person doing it hires no one to help.
Check a license with the Contractors State License Board
The state insurance regulator is the California Department of Insurance.
What you will be asked
- Where the tree is and what is under it or near it: the house, a power line, a car, a fence, the street.
- Whether it is standing, leaning, split or already down, and since when.
- Roughly how tall it is and how thick the trunk is at chest height. A guess is fine.
- Whether a truck can get close, or the tree is in a back yard behind a fence or a narrow gate.
- Whether there is damage your insurer should see, and whether you have called them yet.
- The address, and whether you own the property or rent it.
The line takes: tree removal, emergency removal after a storm, trimming and pruning, lot and land clearing, tree health checks, cabling and bracing, and brush and debris cleanup, for homeowners, renters and businesses. It is not for: jobs, equipment, firewood, tree services looking for work, or a price quoted over the phone without anyone seeing the tree.