Cell Service Restored in Parts of St. Louis County After Fiber Issue

Cell service has been restored in parts of St. Louis County after a fiber optic issue caused sporadic outages across portions of Duluth, Hermantown, the Highway 53 corridor toward Virginia and west to Hibbing, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office reported.

The Sheriff’s Office issued a press notice dated February 13, 2026 that carried a “Friday update” reading, “Cellular service restored Friday update: The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office has been notified that the cellular network affected yesterday is back online.” Local outlets WDIO and Fox21Online had reported the disruption as a “fiber-optic issue” that intermittently impacted coverage Thursday or Thursday evening, and Northern News Now used the same “sporadically impacting” phrasing for Thursday evening reports.

The footprint named by law enforcement and local reports was specific: parts of Duluth, parts of Hermantown, the Hwy 53 corridor to Virginia and areas west to Hibbing. An earlier county announcement repeated that list and described the outages as “sporadic” and “intermittent” rather than a total system failure; none of the releases provided counts of affected customers, the number of towers involved, or a technical explanation beyond the broad label “fiber optic issue.”

Officials emphasized safety steps for anyone unable to reach 9-1-1 from affected areas. The Sheriff’s Office guidance stated: “Those unable to call 9-1-1 due to lack of cellular coverage should try to use a land line if available, text to 9-1-1 may work, utilize wifi calling if available and lastly, attempt to change to a location with sufficient coverage.” The county’s earlier announcement also said authorities were “aware of and working on the issue” and that an update would be issued when service was restored.

The county release carries contact information for the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office at 100 North Fifth Avenue West, Duluth, MN 55802, and a main office phone number, (218) 726-2340. The release lists Dewey Johnson as media contact, Emergency Support Services Administrator, with phone (218) 726-2936, and prints the name Gordon Ramsay Sheriff.

Key questions remain unanswered in the materials published so far: the Sheriff’s Office and local reports did not name which commercial carriers were affected, whether any 9-1-1 dispatch centers experienced operational impacts, or whether the “fiber optic issue” was caused by a cut, equipment failure, contractor activity, weather or other cause. County officials and carrier representatives were not quoted with further technical detail in the notices reviewed.

Readers with concerns about lingering coverage problems can contact the Sheriff’s Office main line at (218) 726-2340 or the Emergency Support Services Administrator Dewey Johnson at (218) 726-2936 for additional information. The Sheriff’s Office indicated it would issue updates as more information becomes available.