Outage Causes Reroute of North Coos 911 Calls May 25, 2022
On May 22 at approximately 10:22 p.m., the on-duty dispatchers noticed an issue with their 911 lines. Following the Disaster Recovery Plan, approved by the State 911 program, dispatchers immediately notified the phone providers, Lumen and Ziply, as well as OERS – Oregon Emergency Response System of what appeared to be a complete 911 outage. It was confirmed and determined that all of Coos County and Curry County were affected by the 911 outage. To avoid any interruption of emergency services to the community, the 911 calls for both counties were re-routed to the Douglas County 911 Center in Roseburg. North Coos 911 business lines and text to 911 were still operational, allowing the dispatchers to receive transferred calls from Douglas County 911.
An investigation into the outage revealed that a Ziply Fiber line was cut during some road construction which caused the problem. At 8:24 a.m. the next morning, North Coos 911 started receiving 911 calls in their center and were notified the line had been repaired.
We appreciate the immediate and professional response from the phone companies, our dispatchers, and especially the Douglas County 911 dispatchers. The partnerships between the Oregon Office of Emergency Management, the 911 Emergency Communication Centers, and vendors are extremely valuable in maintaining consistent and quality service to all citizens and visitors of Oregon.