LAWRENCE COUNTY — Services on the Verizon phone lines in the Bradrick area of Chesapeake have been lost due to a structure fire. This will likely be an extended outage and affect a large part of eastern Lawrence County including parts or entire sections of Bradrick, Chesapeake, Union Township, Proctorville, Rome Township, Athalia.

The Lawrence County EMA office and 911 will be updated by Verizon as repairs progress. Early indications are that this will be an extended outage and that 911 Calls will not be able to be made via land line from the affected area. The attached EAS message urges residents who need emergency assistance to use their cellular phones to report any law enforcement, EMS and fire. emergency.

911 Centers in adjacent counties in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky may experience additional calls from these affected areas. Procedures are in place in these counties to route calls to the Lawrence County 911 Center.

The Lawrence County 911 Center is operating per normal procedures and will be working closely with these other counties to assure that emergency needs are taken care of as quickly as possible.

Questions may be directed to Lonnie Best at the 911 Office or to Mike Boster at the Emergency Management Office