PORTAGE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The city of Portage wants your help to repurpose some of the thousands of trees that fell during the 2024 tornado.
On the suggestion of council member Vic Ledbetter, City Manager Patrick McGinnis has come up with a couple of ways to turn the trees that blew over during the EF-2 twister and have dried out into a good source for firewood.
He says one way is some do-it-yourself harvesting, by stopping by Portage City Hall, getting a permit, and signing a liability agreement.
“(Public Services) Director Russell wants to meet with them and make sure that they’ve got capable hands but they can’t go out to various city properties and pick up some of that downed treefall if they want to get some firewood,” says McGinnis.
He says he is also planning some dates during the holidays to have Public Services Chief Rodney Russel’s staff chop up a few cords and make the firewood available to city residents.
“Now we’re calling it Tornado Timber Day, we’re gonna get things set up so that in December we can have some timber available for residents at a staff event so we know that we won’t be taken advantage of.”
It’s estimated the city lost 48,000 trees in the May 2024 tornado. For this program, harvesting will be limited to city properties.
Firewood can be a pricy item if you need a lot of it to get through the winter, and Portage has plenty to spare.
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