Authorities Say 911 Service Back In Operation

UPDATE: Tampa Bay authorities say the 911 service is back in operation. Emergency service lines in Hillsborough, Sarasota and Manatee counties were affected.

Authorities say 911 emergency service lines are once again experiencing technical issues in Hillsborough, Sarasota and Manatee counties. Authorities say use non-emergency lines.

Tampa police say the non-emergency line is functioning properly and can be reached at 813-231-6130. The line is available for both emergency and non-emergency calls for police service. The Hillsborough Sheriff's non-emergency line at 813-247-8200 also is functioning properly. The city of Temple Terrace's 911 service also is down. City officials say for emergency service calls only, dial 813-506-6500.

The Sarasota Sheriff's Office also is reporting an outage of its 911 system. Authorities say the outage is affecting seven area counties. Emergency numbers for Sarasota County are listed below. The outage also is affecting Manatee County. The non-emergency number for Manatee County is (941) 301-2270 for police, medical and fire emergency calls for service. Those with urgent needs in Manatee County can text their emergency to 911 from their cell phone.

In Pinellas County, authorities said those having trouble getting through on an emergency call should continue to dial 911. However, they said those who cannot get through to 911 should call the designated temporary backup number, (727) 582-5770. The Pinellas County backup number is fully staffed by the same professional dispatchers, authorities said. The St. Petersburg Police Department is experiencing technical difficulties with its non-emergency line, but its 911 service is working. For non-emergency issues, call: 727-893-7764.

It is unclear how widespread the outage is, Tampa police said. Efforts to restore the system's functionality are ongoing and Hillsborough County 911 Administration has been in contact with Frontier, the service provider, police said. There currently is no known time frame for the restoration of the service.

Earlier this morning, service was restored in the Tampa Bay area after an outage overnight for at least a couple of hours. Service was interrupted in Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota counties.

Tampa police sent out an email to media outlets at 1:22 a.m. saying the department was experiencing technical issues with its 911 system. Tampa police sent out another email at 3:12 a.m. saying service had been restored.

The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office tweeted about 2:04 a.m. that its 911 service had been restored after being down "due to what appears to be a large telephone outage throughout Sarasota County and surrounding counties."

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