Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Mower County emergency responders asked residents to call the Mower County Law Enforcement Center’s non-emergency number for emergencies yesterday afternoon due to an issue with 911 calls.

According to Mower County Sheriff Steve Sandvik, Mower County responders were dealing with phone provider issues affecting 911 calls Monday afternoon. Later that night, around 8:30 p.m., a message was sent out to cellphones alerting people that 911 had been fixed

Sandvik said that while the county was able to get through to 911, dispatch is unable to hear anything on the other end.

Sandvik noted that the reason for the problem is unknown; however, multiple counties were affected.

An alert was sent out Monday afternoon to area residents’ cell phones notifying them about the issue. Sandvik indicated that some residents mistakenly thought they were required to call the LEC and said that the alert was just to inform residents to call the non-emergency number for emergencies while the issue was being fixed.