911 Radio Problems – Giuliani's Role Detailed

[autorank]

This article raises serious questions about 911 and the two way radio system the NY Fire Department was stuck with; a system that proved inadequate to the task that day. Here are some of the questions raised.

• “Why was nothing done to improve FDNY radio performance for seven years after a clear need was demonstrated in the 1993 World Trade Center attack?
• When new radios were finally ordered, why did the city block other companies besides Motorola from bidding on the contract?
• Once Motorola was given the contract, why did its cost jump from $1.4 million to $14 million?
• Why were these new radios never tested?”

Issues of Accountability and Brave New Films' "The Real Rudy: Radios"

October 23, 2007 at 18:25:27

by Joan Brunwasser OpEdNews.Com Review of Video: http://therealrudy.org/radios

SNIP

The back-story

Motorola has apparently had a long-time exclusive with the City of New York. Warren Stogner, who manages all the government contracts in the NYC area, says that he has never seen such a tight (some would say unhealthy) relationship between vendor and client – “Overly close… far too close. It’s not a good thing.” Motorola supplied the radios that failed abysmally in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. They also provided the replacement radios that were not bought until Spring 2001, and which were recalled only one week later. To add insult to injury, the city had failed to do any field-testing on the next round of radios. These are not actions likely to inspire confidence in local government.

Mayoral inaction

When Rudy became mayor in early 1994, a damning report had already been issued by the Department of Homeland Security about the malfunctioning radios that were in use at the time of the 1993 WTC bombing. Giuliani had ample time to fix that problem. On his watch, there were seven years of inaction. After the very overdue purchase and immediate recall of new Motorola units in Spring 2001, the firefighters were forced to go back to using the exact same radios that had failed miserably at the same site eight years before. The problems were major and well documented. The radios had already been deemed inadequate for buildings of that size, as the signal was simply not strong enough. Even worse, the radios lacked “interoperability,” meaning that police and firefighters could not communicate with one another. This literally became an issue of life or death on 9/11. 10-15 minutes before the collapse of either of the WTC buildings, police helicopters saw them listing and issued a vacate order, correctly predicting at least a partial collapse of both structures. This order was picked up by police radios, and as a result, not a single member of the NYPD died in the North Tower. The same could not be said for the 121 firefighters who perished there, the message fatally unheard.

Giuliani worsened matters by making an incendiary statement at the 9/11 hearings. He claimed that the firefighters selflessly ignored orders to vacate and remained by choice in the Towers. His fallacious version of events outraged the dead firefighters’ families. Eileen Tallon, mother of fallen firefighter Sean, her only son, is livid over Giuliani’s distortions of the truth. She accuses Giuliani of implying “that our sons practically wanted to die.” Andy Ansbro, a firefighter who is a former police officer, asserts, “I didn’t take the job in order to commit suicide.”

Firefighters didn’t evacuate because they never received the order to do so. It is legitimate to say that the malfunctioning radios kept them from getting critical information that could have saved their lives. Spin can’t undo that fact, however inconvenient it may be. These families are still hurting, and they’re looking for accountability. Their sacrifice entitles them to the truth.

[mod mom]

1. Rudy had the good sense not to run for senator in NY. I wish he would hold the

same criteria for the position of president. the traits that come to mind regarding Republicans are: incompetent, corrupt, sexually repressed, hypocritical and propagandists.

:hi:

[KoKo]

2. K&R...

[Richard Steele]

3. Republicans: too busy stealing to govern. recommended

[Staph]

4. Maybe I'm missing something here....

"When Rudy became mayor in early 1994, a damning report had already been issued by the Department of Homeland Security about the malfunctioning radios that were in use at the time of the 1993 WTC bombing."

I thought the Department of Homeland Security didn't come along until after 9/11. While I think Rudy is a putz of the first order, the credibility of this report just dropped seriously for me.

[autorank]

6. I'll check with the author. Some entity warned on the radios but

your point is valid so lets find out who issued the warning.

Thanks

[autorank]

8. Corrected

Thanks. I raised the question and it's corrected, the name. The process described occurred as indicated in the video. The correction replaces Homeland Security with "U.S. Fire Administration/Technical Report Series."

[autorank]

9. Here's the report.

This is from the film makers:

Joan, you can let people know that they can find the report themselves
here, at the U.S. Fire Administration's own web site:

http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/tr-076-508.pdf

Hopefully this will clear up for any doubters that this is a legitimate
document. The reason it says "Dept of Homeland Security" on it is that
it was re-published by that agency post-9/11. It was originally
drafted, however, in 1993.

Here is the explanation from the document's foreword:

"Under unusual circumstances the Fire Administration is sometimes not
able to conduct an investigation after a major fire. Such was the case
with the tragic, massive emergency of the World Trade Center explosion
and subsequent fire and evacuation in New York City in February of 1993
because of the criminal investigation following the incident and
involvement of other Federal as well as State and local agencies in that
investigation.

"Fortunately Fire Engineering magazine subsequently published an entire
issue containing over 24 articles describing all the major aspects of
the incident, fire and EMS operations, building construction features,
lessons learned in each area, and actions that have been taken to
improve the facility since the incident. The Fire Administration
requested permission from Fire Engineering's Editor William A. Manning
to publish the entire issue, which is how this report came about. Only a
few of the photographs from the original issue of Fire Engineering were
used here; their selection was based on suitability for the xerox-type
reproduction used for FEMA/USFA publications."

Leighton Woodhouse, Brave New Foundation

[babylonsister]

5. FINALLY, and thank you! Here's a video:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=385&topic_id=62515

[autorank]

7. This is an amazing story. You're welcome! Thanks for the link. n/t