Local News in Brief : 1,500 Calabasas Homes Lose Phone Service

About 1,500 homes in Calabasas were without telephone service Wednesday night and much of Thursday after a construction crew widening the Ventura Freeway accidentally severed a Pacific Bell cable, authorities said.

The accident occurred about 3 p.m. Wednesday along the Ventura Freeway near Las Virgenes Road, Pacific Bell spokeswoman Charlene Baldwin said. Most of the telephone circuits affected were those with the “880” prefix, she said.

Pacific Bell repair crews were replacing 600 feet of cable buried 12 feet underground Wednesday night and Thursday, Baldwin said.

By 4 p.m. Thursday, service was restored to about 100 homes and was expected to be restored fully by midnight, she said.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s and Fire departments reported no unusual problems or emergencies resulting from the telephone outage. The affected area, along Las Virgenes Road north of Agoura Road, is primarily residential.

The area includes a field office of the building and safety division of the county Department of Public Works.

Normally, the office telephones are kept constantly busy by callers asking questions or requesting building inspections, an engineer said. But Thursday, the phones were silent.