Fire Knocks Out 9-1-1 Service in Redondo Beach, FL

What started as a trash fire spread to a communications building in Gardena, taking out 9-1-1 phone service for Redondo Beach.

Aug. 11, 2025

Rachel Uranga
Los Angeles Times
(TNS)

Redondo Beach's 911 system was kicked offline for a short period Sunday after a fire at an AT&T communications center, according to officials.

"Due to telecommunications outage in the South Bay, 911 lines are currently down," the city's Police Department posted on Facebook around 2 p.m. Sunday. By the next hour, lines were up.

Officials said a trash fire, which spread to the AT&T facility in Gardena and burned for five hours early Sunday morning, appeared to be the source.

The blaze spread to a 300-by-200-square-foot communications building with lead-acid batteries, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Jennifer Middleton.

More than 100 firefighters, including a Hazmat team, responded to the blaze along the 16200 block of South Vermont Avenue.

"They were having some trouble extinguishing it," she said.

Local residents were asked to shelter in place.

No injuries were reported and the cause remains under investigation.

"It was minimal impact," said Redondo Beach Police Lt. Justin Korte. "It didn't appear that impacted the normal phone lines. It made 911 calls intermittent."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.