Verizon wireless customers were without cell phone reception for several hours Thursday night, a gaffe caused by a fiber cable in the San Jose area. Most Verizon customers up and down the South Coast were having trouble placing calls and checking voice mails starting at around 6 p.m. Thursday. Sometimes construction cuts through lines, according to Heidi Flato, spokesperson for Verizon, although this type of service interruption is extremely rare. Lines were restored between 1:30 and 2 a.m. Friday morning. The outage was widespread, Flato said, and would've affected anyone living or traveling in the area between Santa Maria and Santa Barbara with Verizon cell phone service. The fiber cable situation occurred in Pleasanton and had nothing to do with the Zaca Fire. None of the cellsites, Verizon-speak for cell phone towers, are in danger because of the fire. "We do apologize for any inconvenience," Flato said.