911 System Update Creates Outage

Prince William County (Virg.) fire officials are investigating a 911 outage that occurred last month, resulting in several calls reporting a fire to be routed to a queue that was never answered by dispatchers. Investigators said a child playing with a lighter set an upstairs bedroom on fire, and a nearby resident dialed 911 to report the fire. However, the caller later said her call wasn’t answered for five minutes. County fire chief Kevin McGee said Verizon technicians had just updated a 911 switch before the 6 p.m. fire, and then had changed from a back-up system to the main 911 system. During that change-over, some 911 calls were “stuck” in an answering queue, while other went to the off-line back-up system and weren’t answered. McGee said there were apparently no other emergencies involved with the short outage. He said an investigation will determine if the outage delayed the fire response. Read more here.