According to NY-Alert, if you live in the 845 area code in Delaware County, you might not be able to reach police and fire officials using 911 this morning. The alert advises people with emergencies to go physically to the nearest fire station:*
Due to a phone line problem Delaware County residents in the 8 4 5 area code may not be able to dial 9 1 1. If you have an emergency please go to your local fire station. Fire stations are being manned by local volunteers until the phone line problem is corrected.
Update, 1PM: According to local emergency responders, the source of the problem was a transformer explosion on a utility pole at 6193 Route 28 in Shandaken. And Ulster County has been affected as well, says county emergency communications director Art Snyder.
In the 845 exchanges in Delaware County, only 911 service has been affected. But in neighboring Ulster County, Snyder said, electricity, phone and internet are all out in a portion of the 254 and 688 telephone exchanges. (No doubt this is the outage behind the closing of Phoenicia Elementary School this morning.)
Snyder said the explosion occurred at 3:26 this morning, and took down a large Verizon trunk line. He said the department was having trouble getting information to affected residents by any means. (If you've got a ham radio in Shandaken, now's a good time to tune in.)
Although the alert linked above expired at 12:30, the outage is ongoing. A responder at the Delaware County Department of Emergency Services said that the county was waiting to hear from Verizon on how long the repair would take before issuing another alert.
*Update, 3PM: The county has set up a phone number to call until 911 can be fixed: 607-563-3349.
According to Steve Hood at the Delaware County Department of Emergency Services, fire departments are no longer being staffed in towns that have phone service. If your phone works, don't go to the fire department, call the number above.
In Fleischmanns, where phone lines are still down, the fire department will be staffed until Verizon fixes the phone lines.
