MADRAS, OR -- U.S. Cellular customers are unable to contact 911 in Jefferson County and a number of other jurisdictions, according to Oregon's Office of Emergency Management. The outage impacts people in Jefferson, Grant, Morrow, Union, Umatilla, Baker, Wallowa, Gilliam, Sherman and Wheeler counties, as well as in John Day.
The OEM recommends U.S. Cellular customers to use alternate contacts like local police or fire agencies until the outage is resolved.
- Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: 541-475-6520
- Madras Police Dept.: 541-475-2344
- Jefferson County Fire District: 541-475-7274
- Frontier Regional 911 Non-Emergency: 541-384-2080 or 541-475-2201
Frontier Regional 911, which provides dispatch services in Jefferson, Gilliam, Sherman and Wheeler counties, says if you are unable to call 911 on your cell phone, use a landline.
UPDATE: 911 service has been restored for U.S. Cellular customers, as of 3 p.m. Thursday. The cell carrier issued the following statement in response to the outage: "We can confirm that a network issue with a third party caused 911 calls to not go through in parts of Eastern Oregon. The issue has been resolved to ensure all 911 calls are routed accurately and effectively."
