NORTH PLAINS, Ore. -- Residents of North Plains who called 911 on Monday could still reach a trained dispatcher despite phone problems in the area.

Washington County officials said that even though North Plains residents were experiencing a phone outage that stopped them from calling out of the area, calls to 911 operators were still being answered thanks to a phone patch.

The outage affected all North Plains residents who have Qwest phone service, Washington County Public Information Officer Susan Koch said. Those affected were able to call other Qwest numbers in town but weren't able to dial out of the area.

Because 911 calls in North Plains are answered by Washington County 911, which is out of the service area, Qwest instituted a temporary patch that directed 911 calls to the North Plains Fire Department, where a 911 dispatcher was stationed.

Qwest officials located the source of the outage just before 1 a.m. Monday as an unintentionally cut line. They said service would be restored by 3 p.m.