LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) - An equipment problem knocked out long-distance telephone service and parts of the 911 system for tens of thousands of residential and business customers in several Southern California cities Tuesday, officials said. The problem began around 2:20 a.m. at Verizon Communications Inc.'s central office in Long Beach, Verizon spokesman Bill Kula said. Service was out in cities including Long Beach, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Artesia, Downey, Bellflower and Westminster, he said.
Local calls were possible but long distance service was interrupted, he said.
"There is some, but not widespread, 911 service impacted," Kula added.
He said he did not immediately know what caused the problem or how many customers were affected.
Long Beach activated its emergency operations center, and fire and police departments increased patrols to watch for problems, said Jeff Reeb, a spokesman for the Long Beach Fire Department.
Reeb said he was unaware of any significant emergency response issues. People could reach emergency dispatchers by dialing 911 on cell phones or calling an alternate number, he said.
Emergency service also was unavailable in several Los Angeles County beach communities to the north, Hermosa Beach police Sgt. Paul Wolcott said. Regular phone service appeared to be working there, he said. Kula said he did not know if those problems were related to the equipment failure in Long Beach.
