As outage affecting 911 calls continues, FCC launches an investigation

A CenturyLink outage that affected 911 emergency services throughout Washington state is being investigated by the federal government after stretching into a second day.

“When an emergency strikes, it’s critical that Americans are able to use 911 to reach those who can help,” Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement. “The CenturyLink service outage is therefore completely unacceptable, and its breadth and duration are particularly troubling.”

The multi-state outage was first reported Thursday morning and lasted through Friday morning in many areas.

Parts of Washington, Idaho, Arizona, Missouri, Wyoming, Texas, Massachusetts and Louisiana were affected.

Agencies took to Twitter to provide non-emergency phone numbers people could call depending on their location. CenturyLink recommended people in need drive to the nearest fire station or emergency facility.

Most 911 calls in Pierce County were functioning normally by mid-Friday morning, according to South Sound 911.

It was not immediately known how many emergency calls did not go through.

Callers received a fast busy signal during the outage.

Although CenturyLink tweeted more than 13 times about the service disruption, the company did not provide specifics on what went wrong or how it was fixing the problem.

The company initially estimated it could end the outage in four hours. That proved to be wrong.

This story was originally published December 28, 2018 at 1:29 PM.