UPDATED: Non-emergency lines were restored as of 8:04 p.m.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — A solo-vehicle crash early Sunday morning, May 5, claimed the life of a Buncombe County emergency dispatcher, and while former colleagues were mourning the loss on Monday, a technical glitch temporarily disrupted non-emergency public safety communications, officials said.

North Carolina State Highway Patrol investigated the crash, which was reported about 1:07 a.m. Sunday morning on Olivette Road in the Leicester area, said First Sgt. Barry Burnette.

According to Burnette, a vehicle ran off the right side of the roadway, collided with a fire hydrant and a culvert, then went down an embankment and collided with a fence.

The driver was the only occupant and was pronounced deceased at the scene, he said.

Burnette identified the driver of the vehicle as Jessica Robertson, 28, of Asheville.

“Any time we lose a life, it’s very, very tragic, and my heart goes out to the family,” Burnette said.

Her death came on the day before she and other dispatchers were supposed to take part in a major change in telecommunications for public safety agencies in Buncombe County, with the start of a phased roll-out of machine-learning technology to handle non-emergency calls for the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, Asheville Police Department and fire/EMS numbers.

In a release on Monday morning, Buncombe County spokesperson Lillian Govus announced there was a temporary disruption in non-emergency calls to those agencies. According to Govus, following Robertson’s passing, officials decided to delay the transition to machine-learning technology by one week, to May 13. However, when making the switch in days, technical issues caused service disruptions to the non-emergency lines.

“Buncombe County non-emergency phone lines are currently experiencing service interruptions,” a media release Monday morning stated. “These include the administrative non-emergency lines for Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, Asheville Police Department, and fire/EMS.”

For much of the day, before non-emergency numbers were put back into service, community members had to use 911 for non-emergency calls. However, that changed when the problem was solved Monday evening.

According to Govus, service for non-emergency calls was restored as of 8:04 p.m. Monday, to the non-emergency phone numbers:

  • 252-1110 for the Asheville Police Department
  • 250-6670 for the Buncombe County Sheriff’s office
  • 250-6650 for emergency management services/fire

This story has been updated to reflect the restoration of service.