Emergency Services
(As of September 2022 — See Recent Updates below)

• "911" Emergency Procedure (see more below)

  • Land line or Cell Phone: CALL “911”
    Your call will go to a dispatch center, which will direct your call to the appropriate local Emergency Service Provider.

  • Tell the 911 Operator the following SPECIFIC information:

    • Street Address (Number and Road Name), plus

    • “Southwest Shore, Big Bear Lake”

    • Example: “85 Spring Road, Southwest Shore, Big Bear Lake”
      Note: The Road Name for your cabin is listed on the Cabin Roster.

    • Calmly and clearly describe the nature of your emergency

      Cabin locations and directions will show up on emergency dispatch computers in their dispatch office and in mobile units.

  • Inform members of your cabin group and all cabin visitors of this Critical Emergency Information and Procedures.

• Google Maps

  • Address on Google Maps is “(Road Name), Fawnskin, CA”; e.g., Spring Road, Fawnskin, CA. The Google Maps address is not specific to Cabin Number; it can only locate the Road Location. Also, for some reason, Google Maps has assigned the Southwest Shore to “Fawnskin.”

• Apple Maps

  • Our Southwest Shore addresses are not yet available on Apple Maps.

• Big Bear Lake Patrol

  • 909-866-5200

  • 909-838-2967

  • 909-866-5796

• Big Bear Sheriff's Station, San Bernardino County
  Christian Cordoba, Deputy

  • 909-866-0100

  • Call 911 (Emergency)

• Big Bear Lake Fire Department

  • 909-866-7566 ext. 7 (non-emergency)

• Big Bear City Fire Department

  • 909-585-2362 (non-emergency)

• California Department of Fish and Wildlife

  • Walter Douglas, Game Warden (760) 702-1062

  • Rich Fischer, Game Warden (951) 288-7651

• Emergency Services Maps

  • Southwest Shore with Road Names and Cabin Numbers - 2 pages (rev. 6-5-2022)

• Cabin Identification Signage
  Each cabin should have its cabin number prominently displayed in reflective numerals at least 3″ tall. Locate the numerals where they can be easily illuminated from the nearest road access point at night.

Updates to the Emergency Response System

(as of September 16, 2022)

Recent Events

Delays in emergency services can be life-threatening.  A new and greatly-improved and computerized County-wide emergency response system is now up and running.  Our Colony’s recent adoption of road names, installation of road signage, and assignment of each one of the cabins to one of the roads (based upon the cabin’s existing parking and access method), brings us into full participation with the new County system.  The designated roads of the Southwest Shore are:  Don Carlos Rd, Spring Rd, Keystone Pt Rd, Blue Heron Rd, Rice Rd, Timber Ridge Rd and Big Bear Blvd.

The Big Bear Fire Department has confirmed to us that from now on, all emergency calls are to go through 9-1-1 – and that when reporting an emergency location, we will no longer attempt to provide driving directions, nor will we be submitting a mere cabin number.  Instead, the new system will be based upon the unique address assigned to each cabin.  For example, the address of former Cabin 85 will now be: “85 Spring Rd, Southwest Shore, Big Bear Lake”).  

NOTE: It is essential to include each of those key address identifiers to the 9-1-1 operator: CABIN NUMBER AND ROAD, SOUTHWEST SHORE, BIG BEAR LAKE.  Given the expanse of San Bernardino County, and it is particularly important to remember to include “Southwest Shore, Big Bear Lake” as an essential part of the cabin’s emergency location.  

Once that information is logged, it will immediately be transmitted electronically by the 9-1-1 operator to the applicable local agency, and then relayed to a dashboard screen carried on the assigned response vehicle(s) – where it will pinpoint the location of the emergency on an electronic map display.  Then, upon arrival of the responder to the SW Shore, the screened routing display will be confirmed and supported by the road-name signage we recently installed, plus additional signage to be installed to serve cabins whose access point is not readily visible from their assigned road, due to conditions such as long driveway or walkway, elevation differences, or other natural features. 

Nighttime visibility is another important aspect of the new plan – upgraded night-reflective address numbers will be made available to each cabin.

Finally, we will also be providing our cabins with refrigerator magnets for display of the cabin’s 9-1-1 emergency call procedures and location.

These emergency response measures, sponsored by our SW Shore Colony Association, represent a major upgrade in the quality of emergency medical and law enforcement response available to the Colony.  For those who have not yet paid their annual Association membership dues, please do so now.  Special thanks go to Gary Stahl, 60 Don Carlos Rd, for his energy and leadership of a number of other cabin volunteers on this major improvement in SW Shore security, health and safety.

History

For many years, Southwest Shore cabin owners have had difficulty contacting and communicating with Emergency Service Providers, and have often experienced unreasonably long response times for emergency services. In 2008, Gary Stahl (Cabin 60) began working with Big Bear area Fire Departments in an attempt to figure out why the existing emergency response system was not serving our Southwest Shore community effectively. Gary has many years of experience in the Torrance Fire Department and was able to credibly communicate with Big Bear Fire personnel. Gary and Big Bear Fire jointly created specific dispatch codes to pinpoint various Southwest Shore "neighborhoods." Gary created special color-coded maps showing the location of each cabin and the appropriate access road for emergency vehicles. He even created refrigerator magnets showing the appropriate dispatch codes along with emergency calling instructions. However, for some unexplained reason, the 911 Emergency system was never able to integrate our dispatch codes and maps into their computerized emergency response database. Out of frustration and exhaustion, that project languished without any adequate resolution.

During Spring 2022, Gary Stahl (Cabin 60) was able to get in touch with the Manager of the County of San Bernardino Geographic Information Systems (GIS)](https://www.sbcounty.gov/isd/main/services/gis.aspx). As the County GIS website describes, the GIS database includes the GPS physical location of residences, businesses, public structures, sewer systems, fire hydrants, water tanks, gas lines, utility lines, streets, roads, etc., along with detailed descriptive information about these geographic locations.

The County GIS Database is the primary source of location information for the "911 Emergency" system and for most Emergency Response Providers in San Bernardino County. However, until recently, GPS locations of cabins in our Southwest Shore Colony were not included in the SBC-GIS Database. Therefore, when a 911 Dispatcher searched for one of our SWS cabins on his or her computer, no useful information was displayed on the screen. Similarly, if you called the local Fire Department directly, their dispatch maps had no information, since they were also tied to the SBC-GIS Database as well.

To solve this dilemma, we have implemented the following plan:

• Each of the internal roads within the Southwest Shore Colony has been named (see Emergency Services Maps linked above);

• Each Cabin Number has been assigned to a specific Street Name to create a unique street address, such as "43 Spring Road";

• GPS coordinates were obtained for each cabin location;

• The combined location data was uploaded to the SBC-GIS Database; i.e., Cabin Street Address and GPS Coordinates for each cabin in the Southwest Shore Colony.

This GIS Cabin Location data is currently being reviewed and verified by the SBC-GIS Department. Once the data has been validated, it will be incorporated into the SBC-GIS Database, and connected to the "911 Emergency System" and to local Emergency Response Providers. The ERSs should then be able to respond quickly if you simply give them your Southwest Shore "Street Address."

We were advised by SBC-GIS that the new Emergency Response System would be implemented by the end of Summer 2022.

As part of the new Emergency Response System, the Southwest Shore Association will obtain new signage as necessary for street names, cabin numbers, and driving directions, which, most importantly, will assist Emergency Response Providers in finding each cabin location. In addition, the enhanced signage will also assist local vendors, contractors, and SWS guests in finding the desired cabins.