Tahuya/Dewatto land line outage affects 911

Residents in the Tahuya and Dewatto area who rely on land lines to call 911 had their service restored Jan. 3, almost two weeks after the initial disruption, according to Inland Telephone Company.

Thieves who vandalized phone equipment, causing the outage, were likely attempting to sell copper wire stripped from equipment, Inland representative Amy Wait told the Journal.

“Over the last two years we have experienced several damaged cables and vaults from vandalism, and we are working on a plan to help eliminate this by installing underground vaults and installing fiber. The fiber would replace the copper wires and have no salvage value that we are aware of,” Wait said.

Inland partners with Lumen to provide service and the vandalism happened at Lumen’s facilities, according to Wait. It caused disruption to long-distance calling, and incoming and outgoing calls, and 911.

Frustrated Tahuya resident Dave Haugen told the Journal there was “no communication” about the outage, which started Dec. 22 for him.

“There are some older people here, people who don’t have cellphones and bad cell service in the area,” Haugen told the Journal, and locals depend on working land lines.

Haugen said service loss has happened more frequently the past few years. “We’ve lost service three or four times this year,” he said, with the latest disruption in December being the longest ever with emergency service.

Haugen said a sheriff’s deputy came out to check on his neighbor because her family couldn’t reach her for days.

Haugen has contacted his three representatives, state Sen. Drew MacEwen, R-Shelton, Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, and Dan Griffey, R-Allyn, about the ongoing problems and has yet to receive a response, he said.

“I haven’t been satisfied,” Haugen said.

He also filed a complaint with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission and referenced regulation (480) 120-411 that requires prompt repair service.