911 service throughout Essex County experienced technical difficulties for more than 10 hours overnight, leaving those in need without immediate help of emergency services.
Fire officials say it was around 10 p.m. Friday, when that dispatch centres started questioning why they were not receiving the usual volume of calls.
Essex mayor Ron McDermott says he got a call from his fire chief around midnight informing him of the situation.
"There's always a concern, and you just pray that no one needs a service immediately," says McDermott.
Windsor fire chief Bruce Montone says some calls were taking between 9 and 12 rings before being picked up.
"When a call to 911 isn't connected within a few rings, the system automatically looks for another piece of infrastructure to make that connection," says Montone.
But the chief says they do not believe anyone was left without service.
"No calls were lost and no one ultimately had an emergency where they couldn't reach someone to help them," he adds.
Earlier today fire officials believed the cause was a train derailment north of Sudbury that hit a fiber line.
But Bell Canada now says it was not the derailment but a technical issue.
Around 8:30 Saturday morning, repairs were made, and systems were back to normal.
The 911 Technical Advisory Committee is expected to meet next week to discuss the issue.
