Telecom Networks Online as Western Wildfires Rage

Carriers are watching wildfires in northern California and Colorado but didn’t report major network problems Friday. Some wireless operators said they are providing free services or would waive fees. The California Public Utilities Commission said it plans to vote Thursday on making certain consumer protections permanent in case of future wildfires.

The Carr fire is the sixth-most destructive in California history, Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said Thursday. Carr burned nearly 132,000 acres, and a growing Mendocino Complex fire is burning nearly 154,000 acres, said Friday fact sheets. California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), with Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service, “mobilized multiple immediate need fire strike teams and firefighters including aircraft, fire engines, dozers and water tenders as well as shelter operations staff and emergency communications capability,” Cal OES said Thursday.

“Communication companies in fire-impacted areas must refund their customers for the periods that the customers are without service due to the wildfires,” CPUC blogged Thursday. “Carriers of Last Resort must waive connection charges for affected customers.” California LifeLine providers “must suspend the de-enrollment for non-usage rules and delay the renewal process for the affected consumers,” the agency said.

The AT&T network is operating normally, a spokesperson said Friday. Some charges are being waived.

Impact to Frontier Communications infrastructure is “very limited,” with the northern California wildfires mostly outside the wireline company’s territory, a spokesperson emailed. “Our Emergency Operations team is actively monitoring fires across our service area and our teams are prepared to respond immediately and help restore services as quickly and safely possible. … Frontier is providing communications lines for the Forest Service Incident Command in several areas.” The two big fires didn’t affect Comcast, its spokesperson said.

“Even as local wildfires continue to spread throughout California, Sprint’s network is performing very well,” a spokesperson said. “Our network teams are closely monitoring the situation and are working around the clock to ensure the reliability of our network. Prior to the fire, we took a number of actions that would help provide first responders with seamless coverage and capacity.” Sprint waived some call, text and data overage fees.

Verizon is assisting in active wildfires areas in California, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon, a spokesman noted Friday evening. It's lending devices to fire command centers and evacuation shelter management, and employees are volunteering at mobile communication stations for those displaced, he noted. Verizon Wireless also is waiving some consumer costs.

T-Mobile is monitoring the situation, the carrier said: “We are focused on supporting T-Mobile employees who have been impacted and ensuring disruptions to T-Mobile cell service in affected areas remain small and brief.”

Colorado is facing several wildfires, the largest about 12,600 acres in Eagle County, said a Friday update by the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. “Wildfires and subsequent rain-induced washouts in Colorado have caused some transient network impacts; however, we have redundancy built into our network, which has insulated or mitigated customer issues," a CenturyLink spokesperson said.

“This year’s fire season is among Colorado’s worst,” but “we’ve not had significant impacts to our network performance,” an AT&T spokesperson said. “While we remain in close coordination with first responders, emergency response centers, and American Red Cross to ensure they stay connected, it’s the wildland firefighters, local public safety and volunteers making the real difference.”

Colorado fires didn’t affect Sprint, AT&T or Comcast networks, their spokespeople said. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission didn’t comment.