An unknown number of people were without cell phone and internet coverage for close to three days in Manzanita, Nehalem and Wheeler along the Oregon Coast.
The outage was caused by damage to telecommunications equipment from a suspicious fire Wednesday at the railroad bridge near the end of Hadley Road near Tillamook. Officials reported that service was beginning to be restored Friday afternoon.
Rural telecom company RTI told customers the damage was more significant than originally thought and that had to wait on its fiber provider for repairs. RTI said crews then worked around the clock splicing fiber.
The Tillamook Emergency Management Director, Randy Thorpe, issued a statement that emergency services remained operational.
“This outage has not disrupted the 911 Center. Their communications never went down, Thorpe said. ”The affected health organizations have used Wi-Fi hotspots and a satellite radio link to assist with daily operations. The hospital is under normal operations. There have been no major effects on our public service providers.”
The Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office is working with the Port of Tillamook, the FBI and the ATF to determine the origin of the fire. No injuries were reported.
Anyone who witnessed suspicious activity in the area is being asked to contact authorities at 503-815-3325.
