POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. -- Mason County 911 dispatchers hope to return to their main dispatch center again by noon. They been working out of a mobile command center since Monday afternoon after lightning struck the building, leaving radio and telephone communications non-operational.

Mason County 911 Director Chuck Blake said lightning struck the center, located in Point Pleasant, W.Va., at about 2 p.m. Monday. The sudden surge of electricity knocked out the center's radio and telephone communications as well as its computer and security systems.

Within about five minutes of the strike, all of Mason County's emergency calls were going to Jackson County, Blake said.

"We're using cell phones to receive calls from Jackson County 911 and we're dispatching them from our emergency command center," Blake said. "We are not going to move back into the building until we are 100 percent sure everything is working."

If lightning wasn't enough to test the reflexes of the emergency dispatchers, Blake said the emergency transfer switch that transfers power from the building to the backup generator caught fire. The fire damaged the cabinet the switch was in, but it was extinguished.

No one was injured in the lightning strike or the fire.

Blake said an employee who was standing outside during the lightning strike was unsure whether the lightning hit the tower, metal roof or lightning rods on top of the roof.

Blake said technicians were on scene assessing the damage to the computer and security systems. They are also testing the center's radio and telephone communications. Blake was unsure when Mason County 911 dispatchers would move back into the building.

Blake is asking people in Mason County to call 911 only if they have an emergency.

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