Firewood will be free for the taking at three city parks

CITY HALL – The warmth, light, cheerful crackle and woodsy scent of burning logs bring comfort on a dark winter’s night, and the city has firewood free for the taking at three parks.

The city’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry announced this week that starting Nov. 9, it will be stockpiling wood that’s free to anyone who can stop by and pick it up.

The wood won’t be cut or split into fireplace-ready pieces, so officials encourage people to bring equipment or material to help haul or carry away the wood safely. However, the city notes that commercial vehicles and trailers are banned in St. Louis’ parks.

Here are the three sites:

• Forest Park – Lower Muny Opera Parking Lot [goo.gl]
• O’Fallon Park – North of Picnic Site #4 [goo.gl]
• Carondelet Park – Compost and Recycling location off Grand and Holly Hills [goo.gl], area between gate and recycling containers. This pickup area is behind the gate, so the hours are restricted to Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4 p.m. and Saturday, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. There’s no pickup on Sundays.

All of the wood will be from dead or damaged trees taken off streets and out of parks. There’s no saying how much will be available at any certain time, nor what species of trees the wood will be from. Whatever needs to be cut down will find its way to the three sites.

The one kind of wood that will not be available is ash. Forestry officials note that the invasive Emerald Ash Borer beetle, which destroys ash trees, is active in this area as well as throughout the U.S. Wood from an infected tree can contain the beetle, allowing it to spread to other trees if the wood is moved.

The ash is the most common tree along the city’s streets and in its parks, the forestry department says.

“Our Forestry Division has mapped more than 15,000 public ash trees along City streets and parks. Crews will begin treating large, healthy Ash trees before they can become infested with the bugs, while removing thousands of others before they die and become dangerous,” it explains.

The city’s fire department offers a smoke alarm installation program. Firefighters will install, at no cost to residents, long life smoke alarms with lithium power cells, which can last up to 10 years. The department also offers free home fire safety surveys and help with designing home fire escape plans.