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Cochise, Graham counties lose phone, Web service
By Jonathon Shacat & Gentry Braswell/Wick Communications
BISBEE - A crew working to install power poles struck three fiber-optics bundles late Wednesday morning in Palominas, causing telephone and Internet outages in Cochise and Graham counties.
The outages, which had mostly ended by the early evening hours, caused problems for many.
Some 24,000 customers were affected, though the greater Sierra Vista area was not affected, said Jeff Mirasola, spokesman for Qwest Communications.
Services affected included that of the Cochise County government, as well as the municipal government services in Bisbee, Willcox and Douglas, Cochise County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Carol Capas said.
The County Sheriff's Office administration lines were down Wednesday afternoon, but county 911 service had not been interrupted, Capas said.
Bisbee police lost 911 service, but it was immediately rerouted through the Sheriff's Office dispatch. Willcox, too, lost 911 service, and it was rerouted through Willcox municipal administrative lines.
Capas said service to the Bisbee police and the Sheriff's Office was restored by 7:45 p.m., and Qwest told the Sheriff's Office that most service to other customers had been restored by 5:45 p.m.
Rufus Coleman, a spokesman for Arizona Public Service, said a contractor working for APS struck the fiber-optics lines while digging a hole for a power pole, which is part of a project to bring 69-kilovolt lines to a new substation in Palominas.
"It was an accident and we're working with Qwest to restore service and apologize for the inconvenience," Coleman said.
Mirasola said the location of the lines that were breached is about 2.2 miles east of Palominas on Highway 92. The fiber optics are about 9 feet below the ground.
"We think it was three very large fiber bundles," he said.
The incident that caused the outage happened about 11:05 a.m. Mirasola said necessary re-routing for 911 service took place immediately.
To get to the breach, Qwest repair technicians had to dig out the site and shore up the bundles.
Qwest customers throughout Douglas, Willcox, Safford, Bisbee, Pima and Thatcher were affected.
Herald/Review Reporter Jonathon Shacat can be reached at (520) 515-4693 and reporter Gentry Braswell can be reached at (520) 515-4680.
The outages, which had mostly ended by the early evening hours, caused problems for many.
Some 24,000 customers were affected, though the greater Sierra Vista area was not affected, said Jeff Mirasola, spokesman for Qwest Communications.
Services affected included that of the Cochise County government, as well as the municipal government services in Bisbee, Willcox and Douglas, Cochise County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Carol Capas said.
The County Sheriff's Office administration lines were down Wednesday afternoon, but county 911 service had not been interrupted, Capas said.
Bisbee police lost 911 service, but it was immediately rerouted through the Sheriff's Office dispatch. Willcox, too, lost 911 service, and it was rerouted through Willcox municipal administrative lines.
Capas said service to the Bisbee police and the Sheriff's Office was restored by 7:45 p.m., and Qwest told the Sheriff's Office that most service to other customers had been restored by 5:45 p.m.
Rufus Coleman, a spokesman for Arizona Public Service, said a contractor working for APS struck the fiber-optics lines while digging a hole for a power pole, which is part of a project to bring 69-kilovolt lines to a new substation in Palominas.
"It was an accident and we're working with Qwest to restore service and apologize for the inconvenience," Coleman said.
Mirasola said the location of the lines that were breached is about 2.2 miles east of Palominas on Highway 92. The fiber optics are about 9 feet below the ground.
"We think it was three very large fiber bundles," he said.
The incident that caused the outage happened about 11:05 a.m. Mirasola said necessary re-routing for 911 service took place immediately.
To get to the breach, Qwest repair technicians had to dig out the site and shore up the bundles.
Qwest customers throughout Douglas, Willcox, Safford, Bisbee, Pima and Thatcher were affected.
Herald/Review Reporter Jonathon Shacat can be reached at (520) 515-4693 and reporter Gentry Braswell can be reached at (520) 515-4680.
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Mit Gardner wrote on Jan 17, 2008 4:21 PM:
What about "Blue Stake" . . why did this occure? "