911 calls to Corcoran police being routed to Kings County

All 911 calls to Corcoran police were re-routed for much of Wednesday to the Kings County Sheriff’s Department due to a fiber optic line being cut and communications being affected, Corcoran police said.

“We have been notified by Verizon that there is a possible fiber cut in the phone lines for the city of Corcoran,” police said in an advisory message issued Wednesday morning. “We cannot call outside of the city of Corcoran, and we also cannot receive calls from outside the city.”

Some cell service was affected because Verizon and T-Mobile have no cell service in Corcoran, police said.

AT&T cell phone service seems to be working with no issues.

Kings County dispatchers called Corcoran police on a cell phone to relay information, and Corcoran dispatchers dispatched officers via the Corcoran police radio channel.

Kings County Supervisor Richard Valle, a Corcoran resident, said the loss of the circuits was causing problems for businesses and their customers.

“I went to the grocery store and it was cash only – the debit/credit machines weren’t working,” he said.

Calls to Corcoran phone numbers such as the main police department number resulted in this recorded message: “All circuits are busy now. Please try your call later.”

In a statement, Verizon said the line was cut by a back-hoe operator not on contract with the telecommunications company. That person was working along Road 32, between Avenues 176 and 184.

Verizon estimated the line was to be fixed by 7 p.m. Wednesday.

This story was originally published January 13, 2016 at 2:25 PM with the headline "911 calls to Corcoran police being routed to Kings County."