After an investigation into Tuesday’s 911 outage in Massachusetts, officials found that it was caused by firewall software used by the Massachusetts State 911 Department and its 911 vendor meant to protect the system from cyberattacks.

The outage, which lasted from 1:15 p.m. until 3:15 p.m. local time on Tuesday, according to a statement about the investigation released by the State 911 Department and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security on Wednesday, prevented calls from getting to the 911 dispatch centers. While the preliminary investigation revealed the cause was the firewall, the exact reason the firewall stopped calls from reaching dispatch centers remains under review, according to the announcement.

Once the state’s 911 department became aware of the issue, a statewide emergency alert was issued that told residents to instead call the business line of the public safety agency, according to a screenshot posted by the Associated Press. The 911 department also addressed the technical issue with Comtech, the statement said, and local law enforcement was alerted to the issue through a statewide broadcast network.

While some calls were not able to get through to the dispatch centers, the system allowed the centers to identify the phone number of callers and return those calls, the statement said. Additionally, the department said it has not received any reports of emergencies impacted during the interruption.

“The Massachusetts State 911 Department is deeply committed to providing reliable, state-of-the-art 911 services to all Massachusetts residents and visitors in an emergency. The Department will take all necessary steps to prevent a future occurrence,” Frank Pozniak, executive director of the State 911 Department, said in the statement. “We are grateful to everyone for their patience and cooperation during the outage.”

According to the statement, a full review of the outage will continue and Comtech has advised State 911 that it’s applied a technical solution to ensure similar outages don’t happen again.

Agawam – On Saturday June 29, at St. John’s Field, 100 Leonard St., will be the site for the Western Mass Shuffleboard competition of the MASS Senior Games. The Senior Games are open to anyone age 40 and over. Check in time is 9 a.m. and start time is 9:30 a.m. Equipment will be provided. The cost of the event is $30 which covers tee shirts for all athletes and medals for the winners age 50 and over. For more information or to register go to masseniorgames.org. You may also contact the event manager, danarventos@comcast.net.

As a sweltering heat wave brought temperatures north of 90 degrees and high humidity to Massachusetts for the third straight day on Thursday, nearly 20 beaches across the state were closed, according to the state’s public water quality dashboard.

In all, 18 beaches across Massachusetts were closed as of the 9:30 a.m. update to the dashboard. The closures spanned from Great Barrington in Western Massachusetts to Boston in Eastern Massachusetts to beaches on Cape Cod and the Islands. Of the 18 beaches closed in the state as of Thursday morning, two-thirds — 12 of the 18 — were shuttered due to an excess of bacteria in the water.

The remaining closures were attributed to harmful cyanobacteria blooms and “other.”

• Read more: Here’s how hot it will get on Thursday in Massachusetts amid the heat wave

In Great Barrington, Lake Mansfield was closed, though the dashboard listed only “other” as a reason. In the eastern part of the state, in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, Tenean Beach was shuttered due to an excessive amount of bacteria in the water.

On the Cape, Attaquin Park in Mashpee was closed due to a harmful cyanobacteria bloom, the same reason given for the closure of Miacomet Pond in Nantucket.

Two beaches in Salem were closed on Thursday — the most in any municipality — with Camp Naumkeag closed due to “other” reasons and the back of Children’s Island closed because of bacteria.

• Read more: These beaches have the best — and worst — water quality in greater Boston, report finds

“If a beach is closed, do not swim or enter the water at that location to avoid risk of illness,” the dashboard warns.

The dashboard is updated twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, and shows the results of recent water quality tests at beaches across the state. More than 1,100 public and semi-public beaches in the state are regularly monitored.

And despite the closures, state officials say the beaches are still perfectly safe for recreational activities aside from swimming.

The full list of closures is below. If you can’t see the chart, click here.