“This could be very temporary, and we’re waiting to hear about how long it will last,” Police Commissioner and Chief of Boston Police Michael Cox said at a press conference. “We thought it was important, particularly with the heat, to give people the opportunity to know what’s going on.”
The Boston fire department put out a statement for alternative assistance. “The current 911 system is down statewide, if you have an emergency and need assistance pull your nearest Fire Box, or call the Boston Fire Department at 617-343-2880. You can also get assistance by going to your nearest Firehouse,” the post read.
The State 911 Department is aware the 911 system is “experiencing a disruption” and also asked residents to use the direct line for their local police instead, and to limit calls to emergencies only, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security said on X.
CNN reported that the residents received a public safety alert message on their phones saying 911 services were down statewide and delays in public safety response might occur.
“CALL local Public Safety business line directly if you or others are having an emergency. More information will be provided when available,” the alert read.
It was not yet known what caused the 911 outage.
The Massachusetts disruption caused confusion in other northeastern states, where some residents also got notifications on their phones. But authorities in Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and New York all said their systems were operational.
Several years ago, Massachusetts suffered sporadic 911 outages. At the time, it was blamed on outages from Louisiana-based CenturyLink, which affected some Verizon customers.
