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First-Ever Nevada County Firewood Stations Created For Customers With No Power

NEVADA COUNTY (CBS13) — There are new emergency measures in Nevada County to keep people safe during week two of the widespread power outage in the foothills.

The county is now trucking in firewood for people who have no other method to stay warm. CBS13 was there are as a truck unloaded a delivery of firewood to fight off the freezing cold.

The logs, from Butte County, are free for pickup to help heat Nevada County homes stuck in an outage too long for anyone's comfort.

Suprya Starr loaded up her car with the free logs that will go straight into her fireplace.

"It's day eight today without power," Starr said Monday. "Oh my goodness, my house is 48 degrees right now, so I hope I can go warm it up. I hope this catches fire."

Nevada County created these firewood stations Sunday, with so many people there stuck in the cold. The rule: Only take what you need for three days of home heating.

"This right there, this is a new and a necessary thing," Shomari Smith said. "Trying to survive, that's the everyday thing."

"It's been a whole week and [the power is] not expected to come back anytime soon," Nick Pasciuti said.

Pacific Gas and Electric finished assessing all the Nevada County power line damage Monday, a full week after the storm knocked out the power. The utility has not given customers specific restoration times, leaving those in the cold and dark guessing.

"You're guess is as good as mine," Smith said. "I'm looking, I'm hoping this is just a week, but just like last week, we thought it was going to be done."

"There's no bracing. It's one day at a time," Starr said.

The fight for survival in Nevada County now includes free firewood for the homes with no heat. There are eight firewood stations in all in Nevada County.

The county is reiterating that people only take what they need because the need is so great.

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