North Phoenix Cox internet outage is result of arson, police say

Numerous homes and businesses in north Phoenix were without power on Thursday morning after police say a power pole was intentionally set on fire. 

Phoenix police responded to the scene of a power pole fire near Second Street and Bell Road around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Phoenix police spokeswoman Sgt. Ann Justus said initial information indicated the fire was intentionally set. It burned through "several thousand fiber connections" that fed into customer internet services. 

The internet outage was first reported Wednesday evening.

The damage was severe enough that Cox technicians worked on the repairs throughout the night, according to Cox spokeswoman Andrea Pappas.

She said services were expected to return to the area throughout the day on Thursday.

"Our employees have been on-site and are working as quickly as possible to restore these damaged services.  We thank our customers for their patience," said Andrea Pappas, spokeswoman for Cox.

If anyone has any information regarding the fire, police are requesting they call the Phoenix Police Department at 602-262-6141, or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS (480-TESTIGO for Spanish).

Reach breaking news reporter Katelyn Keenehan at Katelyn.Keenehan@ArizonaRepublic.com or follow her on Twitter @KatelynKeenehan.