D.C. police and fire communications went down Monday evening.
The fire and public safety radio system went down about 7:15 p.m., according to D.C. fire. The fire department operated on backup systems, including portable and mobile radios and sub channels from Montgomery and Arlington counties. Calls to the city's 911 system were not affected.
Priority calls to police were being dispatched through the computers officers have in their cruisers. Officers also were told to communicate via cell phone for non-priority calls.
Office of Unified Communications technicians worked on the problem and had it fixed by midnight, according to police.
Pepco officials said the problem appeared to be an electrical issue at the main communication transmission facility on McMillan Drive in Northwest.
