Toronto police receive 911 call from dead phone line

A Toronto police constablebanged on Jennifer Anderson's door after receiving a 911 dispatch call.

It was early in the morning ofOct. 8, and at first the homeowner was concerned. Then, she wasshocked when the officer told her the call originated from a phone in the house.

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Anderson explained to the officer that her landline, which she keeps in case of emergencies,was down, knocked out by rain on the previous evening a problem with her Bell service that she's been dealing with for months.

"We don't have a dial tone right now," she told him.

After confirming her story, the officer told Anderson this is a common problem."It happens all the time when it rains," he said.

He told her to call Bell andhe would do the same. Within half an hour the phone was working again, she said.

Bell Canadatold CBC News there are intermittent service issues in the Junction area, though it declined an interview about the problems.

"Unintended calls to 911 can be caused by a short on older cabling, usually due to inclement weather," said Bell spokespersonIsabelleBoulet in a statement.

CBC News also asked Toronto police about the calls, though Const. David Hopkinson said the service is not investigating the unintended calls.

Ongoing problems

Anderson haskept a log from May, when the problem first started, to the most recent incident on Thanksgiving weekend.This month alone, she said Bell has had to repair the line twice, with technicians promising the issue wasfixed each time.

"It's a hassle, right?We thought if it rains we'll just wait a few days maybe it will dry up and sometimes it comes back on," she said.

"Now my worry is, I just don't want to leave it if the police are going to show up that's wasting their time and it's sort of freaking us out."

Anderson is still pursuing repairs to her phone line, although she stopped fighting for refunds from Bell after realizing that the small credits on her bill weren't worth the time she spent getting them.

Anderson said her neighbour had a similar experience with a so-called phantom call at 3 a.m. not long ago, and subsequently cancelled their Bell service.

In its statement, Bell saidit is in "the process of replacing cables in the next week to resolve intermittent service issues in the area."

Anderson is hoping that Bell's replacements will work, and prevent any further surprise visits from police.