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Hawaiian Telcom restores service to those affected by damaged cables

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Workers repaired damage to wiring under the Nimitz viaduct on Thursday. A fire Wednesday night under the viaduct disrupted service for T-Mobile, Spectrum and Hawaiian Telcom customers for much of Thursday.

Hawaiian Telcom has restored service to all affected customers late Thursday after crews completed splicing fiber-optic cables damaged by a rubbish fire, according to a spokeswoman.

At 11:30 p.m., spokeswoman Ann Nishida Fry said crews have completed splicing damaged cables.

The rubbish fire occurred shortly before 10:30 p.m. Wednesday under the Nimitz viaduct. Firefighters responded and extinguished the blaze just after 11 p.m.

The damage caused widespread disruptions most of Thursday for T-Mobile, Spectrum and Hawaiian Telcom customers.

Spectrum spokesman Dennis Johnson said customers in the lower Kalihi area were impacted. He declined to disclose the number of customers affected.

Service was fully restored by 4:30 p.m.

Rubbish fires that have occurred in the area over the years have been associated with accumulated trash at homeless encampments.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

In October, deputy sheriffs conducted a sweep of an encampment under the viaduct where approximately 120 homeless people lived.

A security fence being installed around the area is nearly finished, according to the Department of Transportation Spokesman Tim Sakahara.

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