(UPDATE) Chetwynd Hospital and Primary Care Centre unable to make, receive phone calls

UPDATE 1:20 p.m. November 5th: According to an update from Telus, phone services have been restored throughout most of Chetwynd, but some customers are currently without internet. Crews are still on-site working on repairs.

CHETWYND, B.C. — Landline phone services are down in parts of Chetwynd due to what Telus is calling a cable theft incident.

According to an outage reported on Telus’ website, home phone and landline 911 dialing services are down in part of the community due to “damage inflicted upon Telus infrastructure.”

Images show a large chunk of cable that appears to have been cut away with a knife or saw.

Northern Health announced on Facebook that, due to the service outage, the Chetwynd Hospital and Chetwynd Primary Care Centre are both currently unable to make or receive phone calls.

“Both facilities remain open at this time,” the post reads. “If you need to reach either facility, please physically come to the building. If you are experiencing an emergency, please call 9-1-1.”

Telus says technicians are on-site and repair efforts are underway, but there’s no estimate yet for when they’ll be completed.