911 OUTAGE IN SEVERAL STATES

911 outages in several states caused by company installing a light pole

Authorities investigate 911 outages across four statesNebraska, Nevada, South Dakota and Texas residents couldn’t make 911 calls Thursday. Las Vegas police say it took two hours before service was restored.

Wednesday night, there were 911 call outages in several states. According to Lumen, the emergency call system service provider, a third-party light pole installation was to blame.

"Some customers in Nevada, South Dakota, and Nebraska experienced an outage due to a third-party company installing a light pole— unrelated to our services," a Lumen representative said in a statement to ABC News on Thursday.

"We restored all services in approximately two and a half hours," Lumen stated. "Our technicians located the problem and made a concerted effort to resolve it as soon as they could. We sincerely regret any inconvenience caused and value our clients' understanding and patience."

MORE: DHS warns that cyberattacks are likely to target emergency services.

Investigating is the Federal Communications Commission.

The entire state of South Dakota, as well as portions of Nevada and Nebraska, were affected by the outages.

Just before 9:15 p.m. PT on Wednesday, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reported that service had returned to the city in Nevada.

"All of the individuals who called during the outage have been called back and provided assistance," police in Las Vegas stated.

Additionally, the Nevada State Police verified that service had been restored to Clark County, which is located in southern Nevada and includes Henderson and Las Vegas.

According to police, there was a breakdown in South Dakota's entire statewide emergency calling system.

The outage, according to the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, occurred between approximately 8 and 11 p.m.

During this time, "The State 9-1-1 Coordinator was in constant and extensive communication with the state’s 9-1-1 service vendor, Lumen, and the state’s 28 9-1-1 dispatch centres," according to the department.

MORE: Hero Taco Bell manager speaks out after lifesaving CPR on baby in the drive-thru

"Dispatch centres can use the system to determine the phone number of callers and return those calls, even though some calls might not have gone through. According to the department, the 9-1-1 system is fully functional and prepared to react quickly to any emergency.

At a press conference on Thursday, Sioux Falls Division Fire Chief Mike Gramlick stated, "Last night's outage was unprecedented in terms of its duration and magnitude." "Our team at Metro Communications, which serves as the public safety answering point for the area, handled the situation with exceptional professionalism."

Authorities report that there were outages in Dundy County, Nebraska, and the surrounding areas, but that later both landline and cellular 911 service was restored.

There were also reports of outages in several Texas cities, but those didn't seem to be related, as Lumen stated that it does not offer Texas 911 service.