By Josh LaBella
Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
HARTFORD, Conn. — Town and city officials across Connecticut reported their 911 systems were down Tuesday afternoon.
The 911 lines were out in locations including New Haven, Groton, Danbury, Branford, Hartford, Woodbridge, Wallingford, and East Lyme.
Service also was down for Litchfield County Dispatch, Ansonia, Cheshire and Connecticut State Police Troop B in North Canaan.
The Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection is coordinating with towns and working on the issue, according to Alexis Steele, a spokesperson for the agency. She said noted that 911 is an emergency-only line, and urged people not to test its capability by calling or texting it if they are not experiencing an emergency.
Steele said the outages stem from a “commercial carrier equipment issue,” and state officials have no evidence that they were the result of a cyberattack.
“We do not have confirmation from every municipality that they experienced issues, but the issue was being seen across the state,” she said.
911 lines were beginning to become operational again as of 2:30 p.m., Steele said, adding it may still be an issue in some areas but is starting to be resolved.
In a post on X around 1 p.m., the Hartford Police Department said the system was temporarily down statewide. They said calls were coming through intermittently.
Meriden police also said they were getting intermittent calls on their 911 system, and asked people to text 911 if they could not get through to dispatch, as that was still working.
West Hartford reported its 911 system was working for everyone except Verizon and landline customers.
In Westport, Fairfield and Greenwich, police said they also were experiencing 911 outages, but noted it mainly appeared to be affecting landlines and not cellphones. They advised that anyone experiencing an emergency call 911 with a cellphone.
“If you’re unable to reach 911 via a call, you can try texting 911 within the State of CT,” Fairfield police said. “State officials and vendors are working diligently to resolve the issue.”
In Clinton, police reported the opposite problem, with landlines working but cellphones not.
Jon Barbagallo, public information officer for the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department, said the department set up a temporary emergency phone number for Norfolk emergencies until the 911 system is restored. He asked that people only use that number for actual emergencies until the system is fixed.
In Berlin, Rocky Hill and East Hartford, police said the routine phone line for general police matters was down, but the 911 system was working. Similarly, Norwalk officials said 911 was working but internal phone lines were down.
If there is a 911 outage in your area, you can call these numbers instead:
— Ansonia: Call 203-735-1885.
— Greenwich: Call 203) 622-8004.
— Branford: Call 203-481-4241.
— New Haven: Call 203-432-4400.
— Cheshire: Call 203-271-5500.
— Norfolk: Call 860-782-0523.
— Danbury: City lines are also down, but you can text 911 for emergencies.
— East Lyme: Call 860-739-5900.
— Groton: Call 860 — 441 — 6712 or text 911.
— Hartford: Police say to still try 911 and the non-emergency line.
— Litchfield County Dispatch: 860-782-0523.
— Wallingford: Call 203-599-5182, 203-443-3425 or 203-577-7302.
— Woodbridge: Call 203-376-9214.
Some towns in Connecticut reported their 911 lines were fully operational as of 1:30 p.m., including Rocky Hill, Avon, Bloomfield, Orange and Farmington.
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(c)2024 Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
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