SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA — Updated October 22, 2026. Save this public-service contact guide before you need it. California’s largest county by land area includes desert communities, mountain villages and growing cities, so a useful phone list must distinguish 911 emergencies, countywide resource lines and desert versus valley dispatch. California58 compared the county’s published important-numbers directory with current department pages and identified a few distinctions worth knowing.

Emergency? Call 911.

For active fire, a violent crime in progress, a medical emergency, life-threatening danger or an immediately unsafe situation, call 911. The numbers below are not substitutes for emergency response.

For suicide or emotional crisis support, call or text 988. For San Bernardino County’s 24-hour mental-health service access line, call 1-888-743-1478.

San Bernardino County important phone numbers: tap to call

Extra numbers residents in the desert and mountain communities should know

1. Sheriff non-emergency dispatch is different in the desert

The Sheriff’s Department lists 760-956-5001 for Desert non-emergency dispatch and 909-387-8313 for Valley non-emergency dispatch. The valley number appears on many county public-information lists, but should not be presented as the sole nonemergency contact for Trona, Barstow, Joshua Tree and other desert communities. Check whether the location is served by the Sheriff’s Department or an incorporated city’s police department. Source: Sheriff’s Department.

2. Fire department office versus non-emergency dispatch

909-387-5974 is the San Bernardino County Fire general/front-desk number. For the county fire non-emergency dispatch/communications center, the department separately lists 909-356-3805. Its recorded incident-information line is 909-355-8800 and may be activated during larger incidents. Call 911 for fire, rescue or immediate danger. Source: County Fire.

3. County-maintained roads are not the same as state highways or city streets

San Bernardino County Public Works lists 909-387-8063 for its Road Operations Dispatch / Report an Issue, such as potholes, downed trees, county road signs and flooding. The county’s published hours for that number are Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.; it lists 909-356-3805 for after-hours communications. A problem on Interstate 15, State Route 62 or another state highway may belong to Caltrans, while a street inside an incorporated city may belong to the city. For state highways, use Caltrans QuickMap and its highway-conditions line 1-800-427-7623. Source: County Public Works.

4. Short-term rentals: use the newer number, not an older county flyer

The dedicated 24/7 complaint line for San Bernardino County-regulated short-term rentals is 1-833-722-7871 (1-833-SBC-STR1). Some general county newsletters still display an older 1-800-205-9417 number. The county announced the switch in September 2023 and said the old number would cease operating in November 2023. Use the number on the current Short-Term Rentals official website, particularly for permitted/unpermitted vacation rentals in unincorporated areas. Have the location, permit number or parcel number if available.

5. Report suspected illegal fireworks safely

The county’s public information includes 1-800-472-7766 for illegal-fireworks complaints. County Fire’s separate fireworks safety guidance directs reports to the police or Sheriff’s nonemergency dispatcher appropriate to the community: valley 909-387-8313 or desert 760-956-5001, with different municipal police numbers in incorporated cities such as Fontana and San Bernardino. If explosives or fire are causing immediate danger, call 911.

Who has jurisdiction in Trona, Joshua Tree, Big Bear, Barstow or Adelanto?

Trona and Searles Valley are unincorporated communities: county land-use enforcement and county-maintained road services are often the appropriate starting point, subject to the exact property and road owner. Joshua Tree is also an unincorporated community. Barstow and Adelanto, however, are incorporated cities and may have their own municipal departments and ordinances for code enforcement, street maintenance and other local matters. A county resource number is not proof that the county operates an individual city’s streets, animal-care program or police services.

Where the precise agency is unclear, give the dispatcher the street address, nearest cross street, city/community, ZIP code and county. For a road problem, add the state route number or county-road name. For a nonurgent complaint, photographs taken from a safe public location may help. Never enter private property, block a road or confront anyone to gather evidence.

Frequently asked questions

What is the San Bernardino County 24-hour mental health number?

1-888-743-1478 for behavioral-health access and referral. Dial or text 988 for immediate suicide and crisis support; call 911 if someone is in imminent danger.

How do I report a pothole in unincorporated San Bernardino County?

Call 909-387-8063 during published county Public Works dispatch hours, or 909-356-3805 for after-hours communications. City streets and state highways may have different responsible agencies.

Who do I call for sheriff nonemergency help in Trona or the High Desert?

For Sheriff’s Desert nonemergency dispatch, use 760-956-5001. The often-shared 909-387-8313 number is listed for the Valley area.

How do I make a short-term vacation rental complaint?

Use 1-833-722-7871, the county’s current 24-hour reporting line for its regulated areas; for a property inside an incorporated city, first confirm the responsible city agency.

Primary official sources

Newsroom verification note: Checked against public agency pages October 22, 2026. These are resource numbers, not promises of immediate response, countywide jurisdiction, or a substitute for 911. If an official number changes, send the updated source to california58com@gmail.com so the shared California58 directory can be corrected centrally. Individual local newspaper editions link to this one maintained county resource rather than copying and possibly allowing ten numbers to become outdated in dozens of articles.

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