Officials said 9-1-1 phone lines to dispatch centers are down across Santa Barbara County Tuesday and shared alternative ways to contact emergency responders.
“Our understanding is 9-1-1 is down for our entire county,” Office of Emergency Management Director Kelly Hubbard said. “We do know it’s associated or been informed that it’s likely associated with a Frontier fiber line.”
Dispatch centers for local law enforcement and fire/emergency medical services are affected by the outage.
“A third-party doing construction work cut fiber lines, disrupting service in the area. We are actively working to repair the damage and restore service,” a Frontier spokesperson confirmed to Noozhawk Tuesday evening.
“We aim to have restoral completed later tonight,” they said.
The outage also caused technical issues with local air traffic control towers, which delayed and diverted flights at Santa Barbara Airport Tuesday.
Sheriff’s Office public information officer Raquel Zick said residents can text 9-1-1 or email info@sbsheriff.org for emergencies during the outage.
Temporary dispatch numbers are 805.896.5181 and 805.451.5639, she added.
“Do not call to test – only use for emergency,” she said.
The city of Santa Barbara has all non-emergency phones working, but the 9-1-1 system outage is a countywide issue, Police Patrol Division Commander Chris Payne said.
Residents can call the dispatch center at 805.882.8900 for emergencies.
“In response to the outage, the Santa Barbara Police Department has implemented an internal ‘Tactical Alert,’ increasing high-visibility patrols throughout the city to ensure a maximum level of responsiveness,” the department said in a Nixle message Tuesday afternoon. “The public can also approach any public safety personnel (police or fire) to report urgent issues.”
City of Santa Maria spokesman Mark van de Kamp said people calling 9-1-1 may hear a busy signal. For emergency assistance in Santa Maria, people can call 805.928.3781 extension 2277.
“We are actively troubleshooting the issue and will share updates as soon as possible,” he said.
Ways to Contact Emergency Dispatch Centers
ReadySBC.org listed the alternative phone numbers to use during the outage:
- All 9-1-1 Dispatch Centers Via Text Message – Text to “911”
- County Sheriff’s alternate 9-1-1 contact info:
- (805) 896-5181 OR
- (805) 451-5639 OR
- Via Email: info@sbsheriff.org (may result in a delayed response)
- Alternate City 9-1-1 phone numbers:
- City of Santa Barbara: (805) 882-8900
- Santa Maria/Guadalupe: (805) 928-3781 x2277
- UC Santa Barbara PD: (805) 893-3447
- Vandenberg Space Force Base dispatch alternate 9-1-1 phone numbers:
- (805) 606-1590 OR
- (805) 606-5380 OR
- Via Email: allces-fire-dispatchers@us.af.mil (may result in a delayed response)
“There is no estimated time for this issue to be resolved,” the county said.
San Luis Obispo County also had 9-1-1 service outages as of Tuesday, including landlines and cellular calls in San Miguel, Arroyo Grande and Nipomo. The SLO Sheriff’s Office dispatch center can be reached at 805.781.4550, option 3.
Hubbard said her office has heard that Ventura County also had impacts, but “everyone’s still up.”
Also on Tuesday, officials scrubbed a NASA mission rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base due to FAA airspace concerns.
Service Outages
As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, Verizon and AT&T were reporting service disruptions and outages in the Santa Barbara area.
The Verizon California Outage Map showed wireless outages reported in Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, New Cuyama and Maricopa, with no estimated time for restoring service.
An AT&T outage map also showed a Santa Barbara-area wireless outage as of Tuesday morning.
Both companies suggest turning on Wi-Fi Calling as an alternative if cellular phone service becomes unavailable.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Noozhawk executive editor Giana Magnoli contributed reporting to this story.