Bowden writes that the resulting throttling from Verizon “had a significant impact on our ability to provide emergency services,” as responders were unable to properly track and route firefighting resources. Verizon imposed these limitations despite being informed that throttling was actively impeding County Fire's ability to provide crisis-response and essential emergency services." Bowden's declaration was submitted in an addendum to a brief filed by 22 state attorneys general, the District of Columbia, Santa Clara County, Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District, and the California Public Utilities Commission. The throttling hindered firefighters’ response 
 
 In the documents, flagged by Ars Technica, Bowden writes that the fire department had purchased an unlimited data plan from Verizon for a support unit’s connection, but the company started throttling speeds “to 1/200, or less” after the unit hit 25GB of use. Verizon did not immediately restore full speeds to the device, however. The company says it should have lifted the reduced data speeds once alerted that the customer was dealing with an emergency situation, but that didn't happen: In documents filed this week as part of a legal challenge to the FCC’s net neutrality repeal, Santa Clara County Fire Marshal Anthony Bowden explains how Verizon slowed device speeds during the crisis, hindering firefighters’ response. “Please work with us.” 
 
 The throttling took place after the repeal of net neutrality rules went into effect, although Verizon, like other major carriers, throttled unlimited plans at certain use thresholds long before that. A fire official expressed confusion over “why our public safety data usage is getting throttled down” when they were under the impression that would never happen. Farrelly emailed Buss again the next morning, saying, "Please work with us. “All we need is a plan that does not offer throttling or caps of any kind.” 
 
 Update August 21st 7:00PM ET: Verizon provided a statement to The Verge by email, acknowledging that it made an error in handling the Santa Clara County situation. "While Verizon ultimately did lift the throttling, it was only after County Fire subscribed to a new, more expensive plan," Bowden wrote in his declaration.
– Anxiety over how the absence of net neutrality rules could affect things has manifested itself in California. Ars Technica reports on a new lawsuit that includes a statement from Santa Clara County Fire Chief Anthony Bowden alleging Verizon throttled the fire department's data services (specifically tied to its vehicle OES 5262, which uses a Verizon SIM card to get online) while it was in the midst of fighting the state's wildfires. To make things worse, Bowden adds, "Verizon imposed these limitations despite being informed that throttling" was curtailing the department's emergency response. His declaration is an addendum to a legal challenge against the FCC filed by nearly two dozen state attorneys general and a slew of government agencies looking to overturn the repeal of net neutrality rules that went into effect in June. Ars Technica details the email back-and-forth—starting in late June and continuing as the Mendocino Complex Fire raged on—between Verizon and fire officials, including one in which a fire IT officer begs, "Please work with us." Even though the fire department had an "unlimited" data plan, Ars Technica notes big carriers sometimes slow things when a certain amount of data is exceeded. A Verizon rep eventually convinced the department to upgrade from a monthly $37.99 data plan to a $99.99 one. In a statement to the Verge, Verizon says the throttling had "nothing to do with net neutrality;" it was a "customer support mistake." "Regardless of the plan emergency responders choose, we have a practice to remove data speed restrictions when contacted in emergency situations."