WINDSOR --Verizon says landline phone service has been restored to about 1200 customers in Wakefield. Over 1500 people are still without phone service in Windsor, after a fire at a Verizon switch facility disconnected phone and data service in parts of Isle of Wight County.
Verizon says the fire started about 8:00 a.m. Tuesday when a power line fell onto a copper communications cable at its facility on Church Street in Windsor.
According to Verizon, aboout 2,800 phone lines were affected.
Verizon says its crews plan to work around the clock to get phone lines restored. If everything goes as planned, all service should be restored by Christmas Eve.
Verizon is bringing in portable switching equipment to restore landline service to Windsor customers while the Church Street facility is repaired.
In the meantime cell phones will be available for customers to use. The mobile unit with those phones is expected to arrive Tuesday around 5pm. It will be parked in the parking lot of the switch building, which is where the fire was.Customers may use the phone free but they must be used on site.
Officials say 911 calls are being routed to Isle of Wight Dispatch, where phones are working.
Residents may call 911 on their cell phones.
Town officials say people who have an emergency and no phone service should go to the nearest police station, fire department, or rescue squad building to report the emergency.
