The Worst Telecommunications Disaster in US Telephone Industry History

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A Courteous Communications Presents May 8, 1988

Did you know that on May 8, 1988 a fire at Illinois Bell's Hinsdale Central Office broke out and triggered  a network outage; once considered the worst telecommunications disaster in U.S. telephone industry history.

So what did this fire mean to the telecommunication industry in 1988? A Courteous Communications, a leader in the business answering service industry, has done the research for all inquiring minds. 

The Hinsdale Central Office of the Illinois Bell telephone company was one of the largest switching systems in the state; processing more than 3.5 million calls each day and serving 38,000 customers (including numerous businesses, hospitals, and Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway Airports).

Around 4:00 pm on Mother's Day (May 8, 1988), reports starting surfacing of power failures and the building's fire alarms began to sound; smoke bellowed from the structure. Adam Groves reports, "Firefighters initially attacked the flames with dry chemical extinguishers, but this technique proved ineffective. Furthermore, the uninterruptible electrical power systems that supplied the circuits in the fire area exposed the firefighters to electrical shock whenever they used water. As the lack of telephone service prevented the fire department from contacting Commonwealth Edison for assistance, the  firefighters had to shut off the power manually by disconnecting all of the building’s fuses. It was nearly two hours before the power to the fire area was completely shut off and firefighters could safely attack and contain the blaze."

The fire wasn't the only danger afoot. Toxic fumes emitted by the burning fiber optic equipment inside the facility led to the evacuation of more than 300 civilians living within a five-block radius of the telephone office.

Restoring service to the airports, hospitals and emergency services was top priority and as such, it was reported that more than 40,000 local phone lines had to wait nearly two weeks before their services were restored!

What would you do without a phone for nearly two weeks? Read the New York Times story on the worst telecommunications disaster here.

A Courteous Communications was originally founded in 1986 and over the span of 25+ years of service, we have risen to the top of the business telephone answering service industry. We are very proud to share that our equipment has never gone down in the 9,839 days of operation. 

To learn more about our telephone answering services and to learn why we are the best telephone answering company, visit our page here.