On Tuesday, June 19, 2024, Massachusetts residents experienced a disruption in their 911 emergency services due to a firewall that prevented calls from reaching the dispatch centers. According to reports from multiple sources including The Hill, CNN, and NBC News, the exact reason why the firewall stopped calls from reaching dispatch centers is still under review.
The Massachusetts State 911 Department and its vendor Comtech are conducting a preliminary investigation into the cause of this incident. The outage lasted for approximately two hours starting at around 1:15 p.m. EDT, leaving residents unable to make emergency calls during that time.
Officials from various departments advised people to contact local police departments if they needed help or to pull a local call box if they suffered medical, EMS or fire-related problems during the outage.
The Massachusetts State 911 Department and Comtech have stated that no emergencies were reported as impacted by the outage. However, some calls may not have gone through to dispatch centers during this period.
This incident marks the second time in 2024 that Massachusetts has experienced a disruption in its 911 services. In April, several communities across the state faced an outage due to a network issue at one of the data centers.
The Massachusetts State 911 Department and Comtech have assured residents that they are taking necessary steps to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
It is important to note that while this incident was caused by a firewall, it does not indicate a cyberattack or hacking attempt. Firewalls are safety features designed to protect against such threats.
