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.

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KMTR Eugene Phone Service Restored in Eugene 12-19-11.mp4[/flv]

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