Massachusetts authorities say emergency services have been disrupted statewide.
State officials sent alerts to cellphones around 2:30 Tuesday afternoon, warning people of the “major” outage.
“The current 911 system is not available statewide. If you have an emergency and need assistance, go to the nearest fire station, or call the Boston Fire Department at 617-343-2880,” the Boston Fire Department said.
“You can also get help by going to the nearest fire station.”
Massachusetts authorities say emergency services have been disrupted statewide
It was unclear how many communities were affected, said Elaine Driscoll, director of communications and policy at the state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.
Boston Police Chief Michael Cox advised the public to contact local police if they need help.
“Additionally, if you have any problems that are medical related, or ambulance or fire related, you can go to your local payphone, which are the red light boxes that fire departments have on local street corners, to get medical attention that way as well,” he said.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said residents should not worry about calling the right number or facility for their emergency, but should simply contact the nearest authorities.
“If you have an emergency, if you find your way to the police, fire department or ambulance, we will make sure you get to the right place,” she said.
She said authorities were working to resolve the problem.
State officials sent alerts to cellphones around 2:30 Tuesday afternoon, warning people of the “major” outage
Cox said the disruption “could be very temporary.”
“But we felt it was important, especially with the heat that we’re going to be experiencing, to make sure that we give people the opportunity to know what’s going on,” he said.
Several years ago, Massachusetts experienced sporadic 911 outages.
At the time, this was attributed to outages at Louisiana-based CenturyLink, which affected some Verizon customers.