7/26/22 - FECC Press Release - 911 Outage

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Fairbanks Emergency Communication Center Outage

DATE: July 26, 2022

MEDIA CONTACT: Teal Soden, Communications Director, 907-459-6793, tsoden@fairbanks.us

On Monday, July 25, Fairbanks Emergency Communication Center (FECC) experienced a power outage and generator failure that temporarily impeded the center from receiving 911 calls.

Heavy winds in the evening knocked out power in much of the Fairbanks area, and FECC, located at 911 Cushman Street, lost power at 6:45pm. The center was operating off uninterrupted power supply (UPS) battery until approximately 7:45pm when all power was lost to the center. A back-up generator was in place but blew a coolant line and was inoperable.

City Public Works staff responded immediately to work on the back-up generator, which had recently been serviced. Fairbanks Fire Department, as well as University Fire Department, delivered generators to the center in case the FECC generator could not be repaired. FECC’s generator was repaired and the center began receiving 911 calls again by 9:58pm.

During the two hours that the power was down, 911 calls were routed through Alaska State Troopers dispatch and relayed to FECC dispatchers via cell phones and FECC dispatchers were able to continue dispatching emergency units though cell phones.

FECC received hundreds of calls yesterday evening related to the windstorm. We would like to remind everyone that if a tree is down on a powerline and there is no active public safety threat, such as a fire, calls should be made directly to Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA) at 907-452-1151 so as to keep 911 lines open for active emergencies. Residents should never attempt to remove trees from powerlines as trees that are in contact with an electric line may be live and can cause serious harm or death.

Thank you to Fairbanks North Star Borough Emergency Operation Center, North Pole Fire Department, Alasconnect, University Fire Department, Alaska State Troopers Dispatch Center, Steese Volunteer Fire Department, and all of our other partner agencies that supported our center and processed emergency calls over the course of the evening. Thank you also to the Fairbanks Police Department, City Public Works, Fairbanks Fire Department, and City Hall employees that assisted during this event, as well as the hard-working FECC dispatchers that were manning the center. Lastly, thank you to the dedicated folks at GVEA that are working non-stop to get Fairbanks up and running.

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