AMADOR COUNTY, Calif. — The 911 system in Amador County is currently down, making police and fire officials activate their backup emergency plans.
All calls are being handled through the Emergency Dispatch Procedures Plan, according to Amador Fire.
The Amador County Sheriff's Office says the outage is "severe" and the damage is somewhere in San Joaquin County.
San Joaquin County now leads the nation in copper wire theft, according to Supervisor Steve Ding.
In many of the cases, Ding says thieves are targeting the copper wire inside of fiber optic cables — a critical piece of communications infrastructure.
"AT&T has refused to explain why the system is down again or when it will be repaired," the Amador County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. "Verizon is also attempting to help establish cellular coverage but most of the equipment is AT&Ts."
The Jackson City Fire Department is also working alongside county officials while the line is down.
