UPDATE, 4:30 p.m.: In a message to customers just now, Vero says it is aiming to have service back up by 10 p.m.

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UPDATE, as of 1:45 p.m.: Vero says…

We are currently experiencing a network outage in the Eureka, CA area. Our Engineering and Field Services teams are working diligently to resolve this issue. Field crews are on site and have found fiber has been damaged from the Pond Fire. An assessment of the damage is currently underway, and repairs will begin shortly. We do not have an ETR at this time but will update as soon as we have more information.  

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UPDATE, 10 a.m.: A communication from Vero to its customers a few moments ago confirms that the fiber break was due to last night’s Pond Fire outside Laytonville. It says crews are currently repairing the line.

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ORIGINAL POST:

Eureka Vero customers woke this morning to Day Two of their internet being down, as well as a note from Vero customer service fixing blame for the outage: A fire, they say, has cut the line, and they are waiting for Calfire to allow crews to enter the area to repair the line.

Says Vero:

We want to update you on the service outage currently affecting the Eureka area. The disruption is due to a fire in the region, and repair crews are currently awaiting access approval from CalFire to begin restoration work.

At this time, we do not have an estimated time of resolution. However, please know that we are actively working to restore service as quickly and safely as possible.

We appreciate your patience and understanding, and we will continue to provide updates as progress is made.

Which raises the question: Which fire was this?  We’ll try to get hold of Vero today for further details. To the company’s credit, it seems willing to be transparent with the public.

Until we get hold of them, we will advance a pure hypothesis: That this outage was caused by this fire in the Laytonville area last night. The time time stamps roughly align.

But wait a sec, you say: If that’s the case, doesn’t it mean that Vero is renting its bandwidth on the old north-south AT&T cable — the one that used to get cut, like, every other day, back in the bad old days of non-redundant fiber? That it doesn’t have any deal in place for backup on the newer east-west cable to the Central Valley? That it is thus at the mercy of this historically problematic cable along 101, for the time being — at least until its own main line along Highway 299 is completed?

That is the hypothesis, and it’s bolstered somewhat by a report from Ferndale, last night underneath our previous post on this outage, that Frontier internet is also down in the Victorian Village. Such was the case during the old AT&T outages of yore.

But it’s only a hypothesis. We’ll try to find out more today. One thing is clear: Vero wasn’t quite ready for the North Coast’s historical need for more than one way to move the bits and bytes out of town.