911 outage impacts multiple North Valley agencies, calls rerouted

MERCED COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- UPDATE:

The city of Merced says its 911 services have been restored. Residents can now call 911 again for any emergencies. The temporary emergency number is no longer in use.

The original story follows below.

A widespread outage across the North Valley disrupted 911 services, impacting multiple law enforcement agencies and raising concerns for residents trying to reach emergency help.

The outage began Tuesday morning and has affected agencies including the Merced County Sheriff's Office, Chowchilla Police Department, Atwater Police Department and the Madera County Sheriff's Office.

"It's the lifeline for everybody in our community," said Capt. Aaron Rosenberg of the Merced County Sheriff's Office. "If somebody needs help, that's what we've all known to call."

Residents expressed concern about the potential consequences of delayed emergency response.

"It could essentially be a critical situation where it needs to be handled right there and then," said Merced resident Candy Mayor.

Officials said outages of the 911 system are not uncommon, but the length and scale of this disruption set it apart.

"The difference here is that this is affecting our entire county," Rosenberg said.

To ensure calls are still answered, agencies have coordinated with neighboring jurisdictions. Authorities said 911 calls from Merced County are being rerouted to other agencies.

"We were able to re-route our 911 lines within the county to Stanislaus County and Fresno CHP," Rosenberg said.

In a statement to Action News, an AT&T spokesperson said:

We're working to repair two fiber cuts in Central California that are affecting wireless, internet and voice services for some customers in parts of Madera, Merced and Stanislaus counties. Due to the outage, we are rerouting 9-1-1 calls to neighboring public safety answering points (PSAPs). We are working with our teams and partners to help ensure calls continue to go through while repairs are underway. We understand how important these services are and appreciate the patience of our customers.

Residents say the service delay could have serious consequences during emergencies.

"If it was one of my loved ones, I wouldn't want to have to wait for a medical emergency to be handled, maybe half an hour from now when it needs to be addressed immediately," Mayor said.

Despite the disruption, law enforcement officials emphasized that emergency services remain available.

"The important thing for the public to know right now is that if you call 911, someone is going to answer the phone and someone is going to respond," Rosenberg said.

Action News also reached out to Cal OES, which said in a statement:

"The 9-1-1 outage impacting multiple Central Valley counties, including Merced, Fresno, Madera, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus, is a result of impacts due to equipment theft and vandalism. This disruption is not related in any way to the state's transition to Next Generation 9-1-1. Cal OES is in close contact with local officials, and we are coordinating with technicians from the service provider, AT&T, to restore service. Emergency voice 9-1-1 calls are currently being routed to neighboring jurisdictions while the issue is being addressed. Text to 9-1-1 has not been impacted and remains operational."

The following is a detailed breakdown on what each agency is recommending residents do if needed to make an emergency call:

MERCED POLICE:

If you have an emergency, please call the temporary emergency number at (209) 388-7233.

Please note:

• The temporary emergency number cannot receive text messages.

• Text-to-911 is available only for emergencies occurring within the City of Merced. If you are within the Merced city limits and cannot place a voice call, you may send a text message to 911, and dispatchers will receive and respond to your message.

Do not call or text these emergency numbers to test the system. Emergency lines must remain available for people experiencing real emergencies. Please only call or text if you need immediate police, fire, or medical assistance.

MERCED COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE:

Our County is currenly experiencing a network outage that is effecting our Sheriff's Office 911 system. 911 calls have been temporarly routed to the Stanislaus Regional 911 Center to assist us during this outage.

Text to 911 services are not working, please call if you are experiencing an emergency. Our non-emergency number (209) 385-7445 is still working however please be patient with our Dispatchers as there might be delays.

We are continuing to work with our neighboring agencies during this outage. We appreciate your patience and will provide an update as soon as service is restored.

ATWATER POLICE:

If you need to contact emergency services related to the City of Atwater, please contact our Communications Center at 209-617-3359. The Atwater Police Department will provide an update when the outage is resolved.

MADERA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE:

Please be advised that 9-1-1 and 9-8-8 are currently experiencing an outage. This is affecting multiple counties in our region, including Stanislaus, Merced, and Madera. 9-1-1 and 9-8-8 calls are being rerouted, however there may be delays in answering.

CHOWCHILLA POLICE:

If you are unable to reach 911 and need emergency services related to the City of Chowchilla, please contact our Communications Center at 559-665-8600.

Stay with ABC30 for the latest details on this developing story.

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