Doesn’t sound like neighborly spirit.
This happened to me a couple months ago, neighbor’s tree fell in a storm and broke our shared fence and my shed. His family, my family, and another neighbor (not even affected) spent a couple hours with a chainsaw and wheelbarrow and it was taken care of. We split the cost of the fence and shed.
Man. This makes me sad.
Yay, a tree thread!
Seriously though, this happened just last night and the neighbors are mad at you? They might just be mad about the situation. I think it might be your responsibility to arrange for it’s removal though. Is the tree preventing you from getting out, too?
It needs to be taken care of ASAP. Your neighbors do need to get to work and other places. Access for safety services would be a concern, too.
If no one heard it fall, did it make a sound?
First, is it an actual road? Or a glorified shared driveway? If it’s an actual road, did you call to report the tree blocking the road?
Other than that, the issue is people stranded on a dead end road, right? Why not get together with the neighbors and cut away a 10 ft section and just roll/drag it to the side. It doesn’t need cleaned up, the road just needs to be passable, then you can sip as much hot cocoa as you want.
In Virginia, a tree in the road is the responsibility of whoever is in charge of maintaining the road, either the city or VDOT. I would think things would be similar in California.
If none of the affected people are interested in doing ANY work to get themselves out and ONLY want you to do all the work, it sounds like you have terrible neighbors. The neighborly thing for YOU to do is to take the lead at cutting out a section so that cars can pass through. If you don’t already own a chainsaw, weren’t already planning on getting one, I don’t believe it is your responsibility to shell out for one or shell out for someone to cut it down. Asking around if anyone has one you can borrow, watching a youtube video on how to use it safely, and trying to remove a 10 ft section yourself is about as far as I would go if I were in your situation. If no one comes out to help you, take note and don’t plan to rely on your neighbors when the next mudslide/wild fire/earthquake happens.
Tell him you’ll pay him $200 to clean it up. Then charge him $200 for the wood. I thought it was near-universal that any offer of “free firewood” is conditioned on having to cut it up; no one is going to cut and stack it before giving it away. That this tree is laying on a road and not in some wooded area doesnt change that, it only makes it easier to harvest. I’d bet nearly anything that this guy plans to turn around and sell the wood to a third party who actually wants it, and will probably even have them come pick it up on-site.
How big is this tree anyways? Is it a 100 year old tree with 2-3 ft trunk, or a sapling that really not much more than a bunch of brush? I mean, a good tree thread is great, but pics are essential for providing the full experience.
$200, that’s a deal.
Just do something instead of sitting there. What’s wrong with people?
Home Depot rents both gas and electric chainsaw so that’s another option.
Is the tree still in the road? No closure from OP.
Maybe OP didn’t make it.
Tough neighbourhood.
Here’s an update. People started driving around the edge of the tree into my neighbor’s yard. This is a neighbor who maintains his yard like a gold course.
I called the city, they said they would come out. In the meantime, I used a movers coupon and bought a Husqvarna chainsaw at Lowes. I cut it back enough that a single lane of traffic could get through. Then the city showed up and cleared the tree to the edge of the road a day later.
A guy on craigslist who had his old truck covered in Trump stickers agreed to cut up the rest of the tree for firewood. He also said he’d clean up the lawn a bit in exchange for the wood. He actually did a really good job and everything is now back to normal. Rednecks to the rescue 
Thanks for the update. You definitely went above and beyond by buying a brand new chainsaw (glad you used a coupon though). You have some terrible neighbors for sure. At least you know you’re on your own when the next natural disaster comes through since they can’t even be neighborly when it snows.
Wait. So OP has terrible neighbors because they were trying to live their everyday lives and OP posted on a forum, asking if they should be a normal, nice person (remove the tree somehow) or not (sip hot cocoa)? Oh, alright.
Edit: or was that all sarcasm?
No sarcasm at all. The OP had no responsibility to remove the tree. He doesn’t maintain the road and he is not a lumberjack. The people blocked in were just as responsible as the OP was. They “needed” to get out and were blocked in. Yet they still did nothing AND tore up another neighbor’s nice lawn driving around the tree. People that take less responsibility than the people around them for things that are out of everyone’s control are at worst, terrible, at best, not neighborly.
I saw my neighbor trying to start a car with a dead battery on Sunday. It wasn’t my responsibility to do anything about it. I took my jump box over and helped him get it started. I’m not a particularly good person. But I’m not terrible. And I like to think I’m neighborly. It’s just what people are supposed to do for their neighbors.
You must be a blast at parties.
Two simple questions:
Do you think the OP went above and beyond his responsibilities as a homeowner by buying a brand new chainsaw and cutting a 1 lane wide chunk of the tree out of the road by himself? If not, why not?
Do you think blaming your neighbor for a tree from his property falling and blocking the road after a freak snowstorm AND demanding that he remove it when it is 100% the responsibility of the locality where you live and pay taxes makes you a jerk? If not, why not?
I think that doing the “neighborly” thing is the right thing to do. Whether that means buying a chainsaw (or renting one; no reason to buy one if you don’t have the need), doing the work yourself, calling in a company to do it, whatever… it’s just what you do–like you went and helped your neighbor jump their car. Especially if it’s something that came from your yard. Whether it’s technically your responsibility or not, you have an obligation (unless you plan on moving soon, or don’t care about possibly making your life hell via your neighbors’ new dislike toward you), to clear the tree.
OP didn’t have to get a chainsaw. OP could have, maybe, hooked a tie strap up to a vehicle and pulled the tree to be parallel with the roadway, and left the tree as-is for the town (or whatever) to clean up. There are so many possible solutions to this problem.
I think my biggest issue with the OP’s post is the attitude they had. Sitting back and drinking cocoa, knowing your neighbors can’t get to work, to the hospital, to the store, etc. is pretty F’ed up, IMO. Especially if you have the means to do something about it. That’s utter laziness out of spite. “Because I can” isn’t an acceptable attitude toward life, in my opinion. I don’t have time for people like that.
…and I say all of that as someone who isn’t the nicest person around. I don’t go white knighting around town at all. But if this were me, and it was my tree blocking an entire community of people, I’d probably do something about it if the town couldn’t get here the same day to fix the problem. That’s called being a normal human being and not some entitled jerkoff who wants to sit back and drink cocoa, while others suffer. That type of person is a waste of fresh air.
But he didn’t. He didn’t have a chain saw. There was a foot of snow on the ground, so the tow strap idea is terrible. Why did he have any more responsibility to clear the tree than anyone else who was inconvenienced? It was an Act of God that brought the tree down onto public property. Why wasn’t every homeowner that was blocked out there with the OP with their hand saws? How is them sitting back and drinking cocoa the neighborly thing for THEM to do why the OP does all the work? Is it something psychological about it being a tree that fell from his property that you are hung up on?
Sounds like pretty much everyone involved were jerks, more worried about being burdoned with an inconvenience than with doing anything about it. Rather than detouring through someone’s yard, any one of those “trapped” neighbors could’ve called the city just as easily as OP. He didn’t indicate how long it took him to finally get around to calling, but it was taken care of 24 hours later. But all anyone wanted to do is point fingers and play defense.