Book Backs Firefighter Families

By Barbara Rose
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 27, 2004

Original Link (requires registration on website): http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0406270435jun27,1,1504734.story

Motorola's most passionate critics are families of New York City firefighters who died in the World Trade Center's collapse on Sept. 11, 2001.

They say many firefighters never heard orders to evacuate the burning towers because their radios weren't working properly--a charge Motorola denies.

Their federal lawsuit asking $5 billion in damages from New York City and Motorola is pending on appeal after being dismissed in March.

Yet a coming book co-authored by a 20-year New York firefighter will add new fuel to the controversy.

"Radio Silence F.D.N.Y.--The Betrayal of New York's Bravest" promises to publish more than 80 documents revealing "a trail of greed and betrayal," according to the authors' Web site (www.radiosilencefdny.com).

The book likely will dig deeper into allegations by a former city comptroller in April 2001 that the city skirted competitive bidding rules in buying from Motorola.

The comptroller's report said Motorola turned the fire department into an unwitting testing ground for a new digital radio, a charge Motorola has denied.

The digital radios were not in use Sept. 11 because they had been recalled.