Major 911 Outage Strikes Manitoba as Brandon Dispatch Hub Fails, Affecting Nearly All Communities Outside Winnipeg A critical failure at the Brandon 911 dispatch centre has knocked out emergency services for all Manitoba communities except Winnipeg, prompting an urgent public alert. Residents are directed to use alternate numbers as Bell MTS investigates a suspected fibre cut. The emergency 911 service is currently down for all Manitoba communities except for Winnipeg, after the service went down at the dispatch centre in Brandon on Wednesday. The outage affects a critical infrastructure, as the Brandon dispatch centre handles emergency calls for police, fire, and ambulance services across a vast region of the province outside the capital. Residents in Brandon who need urgent assistance are instructed to call the police non-emergency line at 204-729-2345 to request an officer, according to a warning issued by Brandon police via social media on Wednesday afternoon.For individuals in other municipalities outside Winnipeg, authorities are advising the use of local ten-digit emergency phone numbers until the systemwide problem is resolved, as detailed in the same public alert. An emergency alert was indeed broadcast to cellphones across Manitoba on Wednesday, explicitly warning of a 911 outage for all communities outside Winnipeg, underscoring the seriousness of the disruption. Manitoba operates two primary 911 emergency dispatch centres: one located in Winnipeg and the other in Brandon.The Brandon centre serves as a vital hub, providing 911 services to communities across the province beyond Winnipeg. It supports seven separate police agencies and nearly two hundred fire departments, covering Brandon itself and countless rural areas across Manitoba. This means the failure has a broad impact, potentially leaving many residents without immediate access to emergency telephony.Brandon Police Service communications specialist Janet Reichert confirmed that the police force is actively collaborating with the City of Brandon and the telecommunications provider Bell MTS to restore service. In a separate statement, Bell MTS indicated that its technical teams are investigating a suspected third-party fibre cut, which is believed to be the root cause, and are working to restore service as expeditiously as possible. The incident highlights the vulnerability of centralized emergency communication systems to physical infrastructure damage.The outage also revives traumatic memories for some families, including the father of a Manitoban who died after a previous 911 failure; he has publicly criticized new provincial regulations that impose a two-hour deadline for telecoms to report such outages, arguing the timeframe is insufficient and fails to honour his son's memory by preventing future tragedies. This current disruption serves as a stark test of those new rules and the resilience of backup systems.Provincial officials are likely monitoring the situation closely, as a prolonged outage could strain local emergency resources and necessitate alternative response protocols. The public is urged to remain patient and use the provided alternate numbers, while technical crews work to repair the fibre cut and bring the primary system back online