Copper thieves left thousands of phone customers in Eugene, Ore. without telephone service, forcing volunteer firefighters to get walk-in reports of fire and medical emergencies after 911 service was disrupted.

Authorities are looking for the suspects who scaled telephone poles and removed several hundred feet of critical phone wiring that provided service in the Eugene area.  CenturyLink officials rushed to pull new cables across phone poles to get service restored, and much of Eugene had their telephone landlines back within 24 hours.

CenturyLink and Oregon authorities claim copper thieves are now primarily targeting copper landlines because electrical lines are more dangerous and phone wire insulation is easier to burn or strip off, leaving the thieves with spools of bare copper wiring easily sold to scrap dealers.

Copper prices have spiked over the past few years, increasing interest among thieves.  Officials in several states have partnered with scrap dealers to try and limit illicit sales, and criminal penalties have been increased.

Occasionally, copper line theft also disrupts cell phone service, because many cell towers are still connected via copper circuits, especially in rural areas thieves favor.

KMTR in Eugene covers the latest copper caper affecting CenturyLink phone customers in Oregon.  (2 minutes)

Other stories of interest:

1. Copper Thieves Plague Southwestern Pennsylvania – Verizon Offers $50K Reward To Stop An Epidemic
2. Copper Thieves Cost Taxpayers Money When Emergency Services Are Impacted
3. Copper Thieves Still Plaguing Frontier Communications; Company Wants Stronger Penalties
4. Alcatel-Lucent Announces VDSL2 Vectoring: 100Mbps on Copper Phone Lines
5. Time Warner Cable Plagued by Battery Backup Thefts That Impact Phone, Internet Customers