Local News in Brief : 2,500 Topanga Phones Cut Off for 11 Hours
The failure of switching equipment was blamed for an 11-hour telephone service outage Wednesday that affected 2,500 Topanga Canyon homes and businesses.
The failure occurred about 5:20 a.m. in a major switching facility in Pacific Palisades that handles Topanga Canyon telephone lines on the 455 prefix, officials of General Telephone Co. said.
Service was restored about 4:30 p.m., said Ilona Smith, a spokeswoman at GTE’s Westlake Village headquarters.
Smith said technicians rerouted 23 lines from the Malibu area into the canyon to provide emergency phone service at the community’s post office, school and several businesses.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Clarence Chapman said no canyon emergencies were reported. He said phone service at the sheriff’s Malibu station was periodically interrupted for brief periods during the day.
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