The 911 emergency reporting system was down across the state. Two hours on a Tuesday afternoon in Massachusetts.
State officials notified the public at 3:49 p.m., about two hours after the outage began, that the problem had been resolved and the 911 system had been restored.
The Massachusetts 911 department said Wednesday that the outage was caused by a firewall, a safety feature that provides protection against cyberattacks and hacks.
The statewide power outage began at 1.15pm on Tuesday, with police working with 911 services provider Comtech to deal with the problem.
A preliminary investigation determined that the outage was caused by a firewall “blocking calls to the 911 dispatch center.” However, it’s not clear why the firewall blocked the calls, and the cause is currently under investigation.
The agency said an initial investigation of the incident by Comtech “confirmed that the interruption was not the result of a cyberattack or hacking.” Comtech told the state’s 911 “we have applied technical solutions to ensure this will not happen again.”
The power outage lasted two hours and was fully restored by 3:15 p.m., according to the agency. The agency has not received any reports of emergencies during the outage. It is possible that calls were not answered during the two-hour outage, but the dispatch center was able to locate phone numbers and return calls.
Boston Police issued a warning to the public Tuesday afternoon. “If an emergency occurs, pull the fire box.”
Boston residents needing help were encouraged to contact the police department using a local phone number or to approach officers as fire boxes were removed and police patrolled the city with blue lights on “for increased visibility” during the closure.
Police in Worcester, Malden and Medford also warned residents that their 911 systems were down and urged them to contact authorities using the municipal number instead.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu acknowledged the issue during a press conference following the Boston Celtics’ NBA championship win.
“The phone lines are not working. We are in contact with the state government and relevant authorities to resolve the case,” Wu said. “The phone numbers of several district police stations are listed on the police website and will also be made public on social media.”
Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said it was unclear how long the power outage would last.
“This may be very temporary,” he said. “We’ll hear a little bit more about how long it will last, but we thought it was important to give people a chance to be aware of what’s going on with the 911 system, especially with the heat we’re about to experience.”
Some residents in Connecticut, New York and Maine mistakenly received the same wireless emergency alert announcing an outage of 911 service. Officials in the three states clarified that the alert was only intended for Massachusetts residents.
New York’s second public service alert clarified minutes after the first malfunction that 911 was not down, and officials from Connecticut’s Department of Emergency Services also clarified that 911 was not down in Connecticut.
In April, police agencies in four states suffered a 911 communications outage that left millions of people unable to quickly reach authorities. The outage was apparently caused by downed wires during the installation of a light pole, and service was restored within hours.
