Blackfoot outage caused by weather

Blackfoot customers from Thompson Falls to Noxon had a quiet weekend after a fiberoptic line was damaged, disrupting voice and data services earlier this week.

Just before 8 a.m. on Sunday, Blackfoot was notified of a disruption in services in the Thompson Falls area, company spokesperson Wil Anderson said. A fiberoptic line across the Clark Fork River was severely damaged in winter weather. Customers from Thompson Falls to Noxon had no phone or Internet service.

Anderson said crews worked Sunday and discovered the source of the outage in the afternoon. First thing Monday, Blackfoot crews responded to the area to install a new cable and restore service.

With phone services affected, 911 calls in Sanders County were rerouted to Lake County. Phone lines within the area of Thompson Falls to Noxon were functioning, but making calls to and from the area was not possible during the outage.

The data service outage affected local businesses as well. At Harvest Foods, staff could accept only cash or check transactions, as businesses were not able to use credit card machines.

Due to the location and the substantial damage to the line, along with winter weather, Anderson said that the safety of the crew was first priority for the company, and to make sure services were restored to all their customers. “It’s great how quickly our people come together on a Sunday morning,” Anderson said after the outage was discovered.