CenturyLink still working on voice and internet services

OROVILLE – While 911 services temporarily down due to the wildfires yesterday have been rerouted, CenturyLink is still working to restore phone and internet services to more than 1400 customers in the Oroville area.

The multiple wildfires in Okanogan County caused 911, voice and internet services to go down in Oroville and surrounding areas on Tuesday, Aug. 18. CenturyLink announced that they had successfully rerouted the 911 calls as of Tuesday night.

“911 services were successfully rerouted in Oroville last night thanks to the Okanogan County Sherriff for escorting our team thorough the fire line. However, due to limited resources and continued fire danger work on complete restoration is progressing slowly, said Kerry Zimmer, a spokeswoman for the company.

Zimmer added that CenturyLink was still assessing the damage and that numerous burned telephone poles and road access are making the effort very challenging.

“We will continue to work around the clock to completely restore all services (911, voice and internet) to the more than 1400 customers impacted in Oroville and the surrounding communities. At this time, we estimate restoration to be completed by Thursday Aug. 20,” she said, thanking customers for their patients.

Zimmer adds that in cases of emergency, where 911 is not operational, citizens are advised to use cell phones if possible or go to the nearest hospitals, fire and police stations.