Some Santa Barbara residents dialed 911 Tuesday, but no one was on the other end.
Police tell us this was a county-wide incident in which many people were unable to reach dispatchers after calling 911 and cellular carriers are likely to blame.
"We started receiving calls at about noon today (Tuesday) and we discovered that our 911 system was not operating for cellular callers," said Santa Maria Police Department Lieutenant, Mark Streker.
Streker says the system worked for those who called using a landline. But an issue with cell phones affected callers using Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile.
The system was down for cellular callers county-wide, including the Santa Maria Police Department.
But Lieutenant Streker sai the direct line was still functioning.
"The number is 805-928-3781 extension 2277 and that gets you directly to dispatch," said Streker.
But the Santa Barbara City Police 911 system continued to operate without any problems.
"The Santa Barba City Police Department and Fire Department has not suffered any type of issues to it's 911 calling system or to call and report an type of emergencies at our combined communication center," said Santa Barbara City Police Department Public Information Officer, Sergeant Ethan Ragsdale.
The issue with cellular carriers calling 911 in Santa Barbara County has been resolved.
