Timber! Bend church group making firewood out of hazard trees

(UPDATE: Adding video, volunteer comments)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Richard Berg and Kevin Brady have been watching trees fly for a combined 22 years.

“It’s really kind of fun to watch,” Brady said.

The pair were on hand Friday morning as arborists took down a 70-foot Ponderosa pine between two Bend homes. The tree was determined to be potentially dangerous to the surrounding properties.

“We’re just the spectators,” Berg said. “We don’t have to do a lot of work.”

The tree was gradually brought down, until all that was left were wood chips and logs.

That’s were Berg, Brady and the Nativity Wood Lot team come in. The group, part of Nativity Lutheran Church in southeast Bend, take the wood from their partners and prepare it for use as firewood.

But the firewood is only for those who can’t typically afford it.

“People that are making a choice between their electric bill or their grocery bill, etc.,” Brady said.

Those who qualify for the firewood are also asked to donate or volunteer themselves, to pay it forward.

“If you can’t afford it, that’s fine. We get that,” Berg said. “I think this year is going to be one of the worst years in the economy for people not being able to give us a donation.”

At the group’s wood lot, they’re already set with wood for this upcoming winter. The tree from this morning will be used next year.

Berg has worked with the wood lot for 15 years and says it’s a passion project for him.

“I want to be involved in volunteer work wherever I’m at,” he said.

To learn more about the wood lot, visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community/Nativity-Wood-Lot-1645601842152733/