A long frustrating day in Iroquois County Monday finds the 9-1-1 system back up and operational today. And, the Internet is back online, enabling both telephone landlines and cellphones again.

AT&T work crews repaired a cut fiber-optic line along Route 1 near Papineau. The cut line took out service about 12:30 am Monday. Once the problem area was located, the repairs were made and service gradually returned by around 8:30 pm.

AT&T officials have not said whether the cut line was accidental or an act of vandalism. The service outage stretched into northwest Indiana.

Iroquois County 9-1-1 Coordinator Nita Dubble said up to 10 fire departments were able to man back-up call-boxes at their fire stations to handle incoming emergency calls and then relay those calls to the 9-1-1 center by radio communication.

It's not the first time such communications have broken down, so the back-up system finds key people knowing their roles.

"I can't say enough good things about their effort. It's what's so good about the first responders, we're a family and we work together as a team," Dubble said Monday afternoon as service was being restored. "The fire departments and the dispatchers got it done. I can't thank them enough."

94.1 WGFA