Murrieta's 911 system remained operational on Thursday, Oct. 22, as a cellphone outage knocked out emergency calling across much of Riverside County.
Emergency dispatch officials serving Murrieta and Menifee said their 911 systems did not appear to be affected by the regional outage, Patch reported. A spokesperson said the team was monitoring the system in case conditions changed.
"At this time, it seems the outage is only on the county level," the spokesperson said, according to Patch.
Still, Murrieta residents who cannot reach 911 can call the city's dispatch center at 951-696-3615. The countywide alternate emergency number is 951-776-1078.
What happened
Shortly before 6 a.m. Oct. 22, residents across Riverside County received an Alert RivCo notification warning that 911 service might be unavailable. The alert directed anyone with an emergency to call 951-776-1078 and to use that number only for real emergencies.
The Riverside County Sheriff's Department posted the warning on its website and Facebook page, according to the Press Enterprise. The department said in a statement that the cause of the outage on the cellular-service provider's network was unknown. No timeline for restoration had been provided.
Some cellphone users in the county could still dial 911, the department said, because the law enforcement telecommunications side of the network continued to function normally. The department encouraged cellphone users to contact their service providers for details on which networks and areas were affected.
Which carriers were hit
The Sheriff's Department did not name a specific carrier. However, local police departments across the county pointed to problems with T-Mobile and AT&T customers, according to Patch.
The Palm Springs Police Department reported the issue shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday, saying it was aware of problems affecting T-Mobile customers trying to call 911. Text-to-911 services remained operational in Palm Springs, KESQ reported.
In Desert Hot Springs, police reported wireless disruptions affecting AT&T and T-Mobile customers, though that city's 911 system stayed operational Thursday morning, according to Patch.
What Murrieta residents should do
Residents who have trouble reaching 911 should call:
- Murrieta dispatch: 951-696-3615
- Riverside County emergency line: 951-776-1078
The Sheriff's Department asked residents to reserve emergency phone lines for emergencies only and to monitor official sources for updates as services are restored.
