Update: Fiber-optic line damage keeps some in Valley from calling 911

Vandalism to a fiber-optic phone line near Stockton resulted in outages throughout three counties, affecting everything from 911 lines to credit card processors.

The issue with 911 dispatch centers, first reported about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, was fixed by about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to AT&T spokesman Matthew Cross.

“We’re obviously taking this issue very, very seriously,” Cross said. “It is affecting a number of systems, including Internet, television, wireless communication and cable.”

AT&T officials declined to comment on the total number of customers affected by the outage, but acknowledged the issue was widespread in Central California.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the incident as a vandalism case, because multiple fiber-optic lines were damaged in the area of South McKinley Avenue, about a half mile north of French Camp Road. AT&T discovered the damaged lines shortly after midnight Tuesday, said Detective Dave Konecny of the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force.

Law enforcement agencies from Ripon to Merced reported problems getting emergency calls, though it wasn’t immediately clear how many people were affected. Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Heather Graves said about 11:25 a.m. Wednesday that as a test, she texted 911 on her Verizon phone and was unable to get through. She got a message that all circuits were busy.

But the department was not receiving an abnormally low volume of calls, she said, so it was hard to tell how many were not getting through.

Officer Moises Onsurez of the Merced-area office of the California Highway Patrol said his office, which handles cellphone calls to 911 from Stanislaus County, was affected.

“People are still able to receive help, but when they call (911) from a cellphone, they may be routed to Fresno, Stockton or Atwater and those agencies are passing the information on to us. So, there may be a very short delay while the information is relayed.”

Graves said a line has been set up to reach Stanislaus Regional 911 directly: 209-558-4357.

She noted that Modesto officers have experienced problems returning calls to Verizon callers as well as people with AT&T U-verse.

AT&T sent a repair crew to the site to deal with the damaged cables, according to the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department.

On Facebook, the Ceres Police Department posted: “If you need our assistance, and your phone will not dial 9-1-1, be sure and give us a call on the business line at 209-538-5713.”

Similarly, the Ripon Police Department posted: “Some calls to 9-1-1 are not connecting. Ripon Residents: If you have an emergency, please call 209-599-5022.” Shortly before noon, Ripon police sent an update via email: “Please be aware that due to network congestion, some calls into our nonemergency 599-2102 number have not gone through. We are pursuing all possible avenues to restore service as quickly as possible.”

The problems weren’t limited to law enforcement agencies. The Turlock Irrigation District reported that its phone system was down, as did several other businesses. A commenter on The Modesto Bee’s Facebook page said the credit card machine at her office was down; she did not respond to a question asking where she worked.

TID set up temporary numbers: 209-883-8214 for customer service and 209-883-8312 to report power failures.

This story was originally published July 15, 2015 at 10:18 AM with the headline "Update: Fiber-optic line damage keeps some in Valley from calling 911."