PORT HADLOCK – A power failure at the JeffCom 9-1-1 center Thursday morning led dispatch personnel to set up an emergency command center at the fire station on Lawrence Street in Port Townsend.
“I was impressed by the professionalism displayed by the staff,” said Janet Silvus, director of the radio dispatch center for all emergency services in the county.
“They were faced with what could have been a total disaster and implemented the alternate power sources quickly and professionally.”
The outage at the center, which is in Port Hadlock, occurred at 6:40 a.m. when personnel were performing a monthly test of the backup generator.
When the facility switched back over to regular power, a surge ran through the power supply, which is considered to be uninterruptable, causing the 2 ½-hour outage.
Silvus said that emergency service was restored “within minutes.”
The JeffCom center did not regain full telephone and radio communication and go back into operation until 9:10 a.m.
The backup center in the East Jefferson Fire-Rescue fire station was staffed by two dispatchers, Derek Allen and Rebecca Duce, who were on call and close by.
After the backup station was up and running, the fire department contacted local media outlets warning of the outage and telling the public it could receive a busy signal when calling 9-1-1 because the backup center had only three lines.
East Jefferson Fire-Rescue also posted three alternate emergency lines that were not used, Silvus said.
Silvus said that only a few minor calls came into the emergency center during the outage.
Allen said the backup equipment worked well but had some limitations.
“Response to incoming calls can be done in two steps at JeffCom,” he said.
“Here, we have to add four or five steps between the incoming call and dispatching the right units to respond, and don’t have the ability to automatically record all call and dispatch traffic,” he added.
During the outage, the backup center could receive calls from the western part of Jefferson County but could not dispatch officers to any incidents.
At that time, there was an emergency channel in place allowing the dispatch to communicate with park law enforcement personnel, said William Beezley, East Jefferson Fire-Rescue spokesman.
Silvus, who has said the dispatch center’s equipment is outdated and in need of replacement, said that the power problem was not caused by faulty equipment.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie. bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.