Spring Fire Causes Massive 911 Outage
SALIDA, Colo. (CBS4)- Hundreds of people living in Central Colorado were unable to dial 911 on Tuesday due to a massive Verizon and Charter landline phone outage caused by the Spring Fire. Part of that outage was resolved by Tuesday afternoon when Verizon restored service.
Chaffee County officials confirm the 911 dispatch center is functioning but customers who rely on Verizon to make emergency calls can not get through.
Complicating matters, the wildfire raging in Southern Colorado has made repairs to the infrastructure that was destroyed by the fire days ago difficult to reach.
There is no estimate on when Charter landline 911 service will be restored.
RELATED: Officials: Spring Fire Suspect Used Fire Pit To Cook Before Fire Erupted
The Spring Fire has burned 78,941 acres and was five percent contained as of Tuesday morning. More than 100 homes have been destroyed by the wildfire that was started by a man from Denmark who was living in a camper.
The outage and stress on the remaining system is impacting people in Salida, Buena Vista, Leadville, Fairplay and other small towns in the area.
The Chaffee County Sheriff reported the issue to the federal government and has demanded "redundancy" to the system.
Wildfire Resources
- Visit CBSDenver.com's Living With Wildfire section.
Wildfire Photo Galleries
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Matt Kroschel covers news throughout Colorado working from the CBS4 Mountain Newsroom. Send story ideas to mrkroschel@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter @Matt_Kroschel.
