Phone calls for some Sitkans were still spotty Monday (8-3-26) after an accident on Sawmill Creek Road knocked out major service provider Alaska Communications (ACS) late last week. The outage affected the city’s emergency service lines.
Around 11:30 a.m. on Friday, a semi-truck driver was making a left-hand turn off of Jarvis Street onto Sawmill Creek. In an email to KCAW, Sitka Police spokesperson Serena Wild said the truck was hauling an excavator and an arm of the excavator was not lowered far enough on the trailer to clear the above phone lines. The arm caught a hanging cable and ripped it apart.
In a release on Monday afternoon, Public and Government Affairs Director Melissa Lunas said ACS is continuing to work on repairs and the city will share updates as more information becomes available. Lunas said some 911 calls are now going through. However, service has not yet been fully restored, and interruptions may still occur. For emergencies and non-emergencies, the Sitka Police Department’s backup line is 907-623-0911.
Lunas said the city’s online utility payment portal, which was also affected by the outage, appears to be functioning again as of Monday morning.
