Chesterburgh, 07:17, March 11, 2024 — What started as a routine Monday morning in Chesterburgh quickly devolved into a technical and municipal mess that exposed cracks not only in the town’s aging infrastructure but also in its decades-old approach to emergency services. At precisely 7:03 a.m., the 911 call center at the Chesterburgh Public Safety Building went dark for nearly 14 minutes, leaving the town’s emergency dispatch system incommunicado during the crucial morning rush hour.

The outage was traced to a power surge caused by a transformer failure at the substation on Mill Road, a site that has been under scrutiny since 2018 after a report from the town’s electrical inspectors found “several obsolete components vulnerable to overload.” Despite repeated warnings, no substantial upgrades were made.

Sources within the department, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the blackout as “utter chaos.” Operators at the 911 center scrambled to switch to backup generators, but those units failed to start immediately due to a combination of poor maintenance and operator error, corroborated by logs reviewed by the Ledger.

The town’s interim emergency services director, Carla Jenkins, acknowledged the outage during a 10:23 a.m. phone call, stating, “We experienced a failure in our primary power supply that affected our communications systems. Backup measures were slower to deploy than expected. We are conducting a full investigation and reviewing protocols to prevent future incidents.”

Meanwhile, residents who attempted to dial 911 between 7:05 and 7:17 reported getting a fast busy signal or being disconnected. At least three incidents requiring urgent intervention were documented in police and fire reports for that interval — including a two-car accident at the intersection of Hartford and Elm Streets and a report of a house fire on Orchard Lane.

Fire Chief Martin O’Connell confirmed that first responders were delayed by three to five minutes in each case because dispatchers could not immediately send units; instead, officers on patrol were instructed via radio to check on emergency calls as a stopgap measure. O’Connell added, “In emergencies, every second counts. This failure is unacceptable.”

The town council had previously allocated $1.2 million in the 2023 budget for electrical infrastructure improvements and public safety upgrades. However, documents obtained by the Ledger show that less than half the funds had been spent as of the last quarter, with the rest held up by internal paperwork and contract negotiations with private vendors.

Opposition council member Frank Delaney criticized the delay sharply at a public meeting later Monday evening: “We have a documented risk that was not addressed in time. This is a failure of management and planning. The people of Chesterburgh pay taxes and deserve a reliable emergency response system, not excuses.”

Adding to the irony, the town’s main fire station suffered a separate electrical issue later the same day, temporarily disabling the building’s intercom and flagging systems. Technicians dispatched around 4:30 p.m. identified a blown fuse in an outdated electrical panel that had reportedly been slated for replacement in 2022 but remains in service.

Town manager Leonard Bates, who has held the position since 2015, declined to comment directly on whether he bears any responsibility for the delays, citing ongoing investigations. In a public statement released after the incidents, Bates said, “Our focus remains on ensuring the safety and wellbeing of Chesterburgh residents. We are committed to transparent reporting and resolving infrastructure issues swiftly.”

Meanwhile, Chesterburgh’s residents are left weighing the cost of years of delayed action. “I called 911 for my neighbor who was having a seizure, and I couldn’t get through,” said local resident Marianna Hayes, 42, who reported the distre