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.

WATER FROM BURST PIPE FREEZES DOWN SIDE OF DETROIT HOME

WATER FROM BURST PIPE FREEZES DOWN SIDE OF DETROIT HOME

By Associated Press Published: January 13, 2015, 11:38 am Updated: January 13, 2015, 1:17 pm

DETROIT (AP) — Water from a burst pipe has encased part of a Detroit home in ice.

E.T. Williamson Sr. tells the Detroit Free Press that a pipe on the third floor of the house burst several days ago, causing water to pour through the walls and into the basement.

Temperatures in the Detroit area have been below zero, causing the steady flow of water to freeze.

The 56-year-old Williamson says the basement has three to four feet of water in it.

Williamson says he lost the home in tax foreclosure, but his clothing and other belongings still were inside.

WJBK-TV reports that the water also flowed down the driveway and into the street before freezing.

A bulldozer was called in to remove thick sheets of ice from the street.

REGULATORS HAVE FAILED TO ACT ON MORE THAN 100 RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE TRUCK SAFETY AT A TIME WHEN FATALITIES HAVE RISEN FOR FOUR STRAIGHT YEARS. NTSB SAYS TRUCKING SAFETY SHOULD BE A HIGHER PRIORITY

REGULATORS HAVE FAILED TO ACT ON MORE THAN 100 RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE TRUCK SAFETY AT A TIME WHEN FATALITIES HAVE RISEN FOR FOUR STRAIGHT YEARS.  NTSB SAYS TRUCKING SAFETY SHOULD BE A HIGHER PRIORITY

 January 13, 2015 

Highway regulators have failed to act on more than 100 recommendations to improve truck safety at a time when fatalities have risen for four straight years, according to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.

Priorities must change in 2015, with more anti-collision technology, better limits on driver hours and tighter regulation of trucking companies with high accident rates, the NTSB said today in at a news conference.

The accidents that injured comedian Tracy Morgan in June and killed four members of a college softball team in September cast new light on America’s 2 million truckers, who are involved in crashes that kill almost 4,000 people a year. The NTSB said it’s time for regulators to act on its more than 100 recommendations to improve trucking safety.

“There’s a whole suite of technology that’s ready for prime time now that would reduce crashes,” Donald Karol, NTSB’s director of highway safety investigations, said in an interview.

The NTSB is pushing the use of sensors to warn truck drivers when they’re about to strike someone from behind or to alert when a vehicle changes lanes.

‘Most Wanted’

The agency made the plea as it unveiled its “Most Wanted List” of transportation improvements for 2015. In addition to trucking, the NTSB also said more attention should be given to rail tank-car safety, airline pilot compliance, distracted driving, and drug and alcohol impairment.

“The Most Wanted List is our road map for 2015,” Christopher Hart, NTSB’s acting chairman, said at the press conference. “These are safety improvements for which the time is ripe for action.”

The NTSB, which investigates transportation and pipeline accidents, has no regulatory authority. It uses its annual Most Wanted list to highlight the areas most in need of improvement.

While transportation has become safer in recent decades, the tens of thousands of deaths each year and hundreds of thousands of injuries indicate “we have a long way to go,” Hart said.

Deaths Increase

The number of people killed in large-truck crashes increased for the fourth straight time, to 3,964 people in 2013, which includes truckers, pedestrians and the occupants of vehicles that collided with the big rigs, the U.S. Transportation Department said last month. The number represents a 17 percent increase since 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

One issue is driver fatigue, according to the NTSB. In the crash that injured Morgan and killed fellow comedian James McNair, the driver of a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. truck hadn’t slept for at least 24 hours, according to a police complaint. The truck struck a van carrying Morgan from behind on the New Jersey Turnpike.

The safety board has recommended that trucking companies impose plans to better manage fatigue on the roads and to require screening for sleep disorders that may lead to drowsiness.

Congress last year weakened regulations designed to reduce trucker fatigue. Lawmakers targeted a portion of a rule closing a loophole that kept some drivers from working 82 hours over eight days, according to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. That provision won’t be enforced for at least a year as regulators conduct research to see if it had an unintended effect of forcing more trucks onto the road during rush hours.

The NTSB has also found a pattern in truck crashes of poor safety enforcement, Karol said. The safety board wants regulatory agencies to impose tighter controls on trucking companies. An average of 20 percent of truck inspections find safety violations, he said.

CHP: VAN AND TRUCK COLLISION KILLS 5 EAST OF STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA; FOG A FACTOR

CHP: VAN AND TRUCK COLLISION KILLS 5 EAST OF STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA; FOG A FACTOR

The California Highway Patrol reported fog played a factor in a collision that killed five people along Highway 4 and Highway 99 east of Stockton Tuesday morning.

The crash was on Farmington Road at Van Allen Road and involved a van carrying six people and a truck carrying two people, according to information received by CHP spokesman Richard Wetzel and CHP Officer James Smith.

According to Smith, officers arrived at the scene at 6:50 a.m.

The van was stopped along northbound lane of Van Allen Road on Highway 4. As the driver of the van attempted to cross over 4, a truck traveling at an unknown speed on the eastbound lane of the highway hit the van, according to Wetzel.

The driver of the van was wearing a seat belt but died as the impact of the collision occurred at his door, Wetzel said. Three other people in the van were killed as well, according to Smith.

Smith said one of the other passengers in the van sustained major injuries; the fifth passenger in the van had unknown injuries. Both were transported to the hospital.

The two people inside the truck were also transported to the hospital. Their injuries were unknown, Smith said.

CHP later confirmed Monday morning that a fifth person involved in the collision had died.

One-way traffic control is currently active. No estimate on how long it will take to clear the scene.