Communities support one another during winter storms

Danville, Virginia – Pittsylvania County saw severe weather during Tuesday’s winter storm, which resulted in power disruptions.

The 911 call center employees also experienced problems as a result of the disruptions.
“We were informed early in the morning that their generator had failed and that their center was experiencing a power outage in the town of Chatham.”

“The system is using the 911 system because the electricity was off for so long. 911 calls can be routed to another center if we are unable to answer them.

Both regions have an arrangement that dates back to the creation of the call centers; if one station experienced problems, the other would come to help, according to Tim Duffer, deputy chief of the Danville Fire Department.

We have an arrangement with them that they will transfer all 911 calls. Since we utilize the same CAD system, it’s beneficial in a way that their communicators are familiar with both our and their CADs,” he said.

The phone center in Pittsylvania is officially open.

Crews are getting the system ready to weather the upcoming storms because heavy rain is predicted for the weekend.

Their generator has been repaired or is currently being repaired. Therefore, if there are any further power outages in the future, perhaps that won’t be a problem.

“The maintenance team has almost everything ready to go, so as long as the power continues, we should be fine, but we need to get ready for next week.”

Although it was challenging, both call centers collaborated to ensure their operations during the storm, according to Duffer.