UPDATE | 911 service restored in NE Ohio counties

YOUNGSTOWN

An issue with AT&T hampered 911 emergency services in Mahoning and Columbiana counties, but 911 is working now in Mahoning County.

In the event of further problems, for emergencies in Youngstown, call 330-747-7911 and press 0.

To reach the Mahoning County 911 Center, call 330-740-2370.

For emergencies in Boardman, call 330-726-4144 and press 0.

Austintown, 330-799-9721.

Columbiana City residents should call 330-482-9292.

Residents can also call 211, the help hotline.

Maggie McGee, director of the county’s 911 system, said its 911 system began coming back online at 11 p.m. Tuesday and was fully operational by 1 a.m.

She said today she is sending technicians to each of the county’s answering points for the system to make sure everything is running smoothly, but she added she anticipates no problems.

She said all of the repairs were done on AT&T’s end and there was nothing the county needed to do to get the system back up and running.

McGee said the failure was felt throughout Northeast Ohio. She said the county’s 10-digit number to the 911 center downtown worked smoothly, and there were no problems or complaints.

The service had been down since about 6 p.m. on Tuesday due to a burst steam pipe in a switching office Tuesday afternoon, an AT&T spokeswoman said.

In a statement, AT&T officials said: “Due to a burst steam pipe in a switching office early this evening, some AT&T customers ... may be experiencing issues with wireless and wireline services. Technicians are onsite and restoration is in progress. ... We apologize for this inconvenience.”

The outage caused 911 systems to go down throughout several counties also including Summit, Medina and Portage and Stark. Trumbull County was not affected.

The burst steam pipe in a switching office affected wireless and wire line services.

The Akron Fire Department said the burst pipe sprayed water over electrical equipment. The six-story building, located on Bowery Street, is equipped with backup generators, but they were of no help. Battery backup systems failed as well. As a result, phone lines and cell service went down.

Residents can also call 211, the help hotline in event of a similar emergency.