UTAH, Feb. 22, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — Intermittent technical problems affecting multiple cell phone service providers are preventing cell phone callers in much of all of Utah from connecting to the the emergency 911 number.
Multiple Utah law enforcement agencies are reporting the issue, and asking cell phone users to use land lines or non-emergency numbers if they are in urgent need of help and fail to connect.
“911 Outage: Please be aware that at least one wireless carrier is reporting problems with delivering some 911 calls to our dispatch center,” a Layton Police tweet says. “If you experience a problem when trying to call 911, please call 801-497-8300. An update will be provided when full service is restored.”
Salt Lake City 911 posted the following:
“Multiple cell phone carriers are experiencing intermittent problems with their connection to 9-1-1. If you need police, fire, or medical assistance in Salt Lake City or Sandy, and your 9-1-1 call does not go through, please call our non-emergency number at 801-799-3000 option 7.”
Sandy Police retweeted the Salt Lake message. Cottonwood Heights retweeted Sandy’s retweet.
Summit County Sheriff Justin Martinez also shared the news:
“ATTENTION – Verizon Wireless subscribers may experience call failure when calling 911. If you have an emergency and can’t connect using 911, please call our non-emergency line 435-615-3601. Verizon is aware and is working on the problem.”
The St. George Department of Public Safety also tweeted:
“IMPORTANT — Verizon wireless is experiencing a power outage. you may not be able to reach our dispatch center by dialing 911 until power is restored. If you need to reach emergency services, call 435–627–4300, or use a phone from another carrier. We will keep you updated.”
A subsequent tweet from St. George DPS said, “Earlier we reported that Verizon was having issues with 911 services. We want to alert you that it is all cell phone carriers that are having this issue. We will keep you updated. Remember if you need to reach Emergency Services in the Washington County area call 435-627-4300.”
