Tuesday, January 13, 2015

AT&T: A BURST STEAM PIPE IN THEIR AKRON SWITCHING OFFICE LED TO THE OUTAGE. THE BURST PIPE SPRAYED WATER OVER ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT. 911 SERVICE RESTORATION UNDERWAY IN AKRON-CANTON AREA



AT&T: A BURST STEAM PIPE IN THEIR AKRON SWITCHING OFFICE LED TO THE OUTAGE.  THE BURST PIPE SPRAYED WATER OVER ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT. 911 SERVICE RESTORATION UNDERWAY IN AKRON-CANTON AREA




AKRON, Ohio -- Multiple counties in Northeast Ohio are reporting outages with their 911 systems, including Medina, Portage, Stark and Summit counties.

Crews are working to restore service. According to AT&T spokeswoman Holly Hollingsworth, customer service was expected to begin around 9 p.m., though a time for complete service restoration was not given. She said a burst steam pipe in their Akron switching office led to the outage.

Mike Scott with the Akron Fire Department said the burst pipe sprayed water over electrical equipment.

The six-story building, located on Bowery St., is equipped with backup generators, but they were of no help. Battery backup systems failed as well. That's when phone lines and cell service went down.

Scott said all new electrical equipment, including at least one generator, had to be brought in to help and that an emergency command center has been set up as well.

An AT&T source who said he was not authorized to talk said "it is a lot more complicated" than bringing in a generator. He said communicating within the communications company has been tough because they do not have phones to talk with each other.

The AT&T outage disrupted phone service at Kent State University, including emergency services, according to spokesman Eric Mansfield.