911 outage affected people across northwestern Alberta on Monday

(Source: releon8211/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

An Alberta Emergency Alert was issued at 12:27 p.m. on Monday because of technical difficulties with 911 service in northwestern Alberta.

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The outage, which impacted both cell phones and landlines, affected the following 19 areas:

• Big Lakes;
• Birch Hills County;
• Clear Hills 152C;
• Clear Hills No. 21;
• Fairview;
• Fairview No. 136;
• Grande Prairie;
• Grande Prairie County No. 1;
• Greenview No. 16;
• Lesser Slave River No.124;
• Mackenzie No. 23;
• Northern Lights No. 22;
• Northern Sunrise County;
• Opportunity No. 17;
• Peace No. 135;
• Saddle Hills County;
• Smoky River No. 130;
• Spirit River; and
• Spirit River No. 133.

The warning was downgraded to an alert at 5:40 p.m. with officials saying 911 service had been restored through partner agencies.

A spokesperson for Telus says service was restored at 1:41 p.m.

The cause of the outage is still unknown, Telus is investigating.