Report claims firefighters were let down by defective radios
While acting bravely, the firefighters were plagued by problems in radio communication, lapses in discipline and a lack of coordinated efforts with the police, according to a draft report by an independent consultant.
The report says faulty radio equipment prevented those on the upper floors of the twin towers from heeding an evacuation order, half an hour before the first tower collapsed.
The draft, parts of which were obtained by the New York Times, also cites problems with discipline and a lack of co-ordination with police.
The head of New York’s Fire Department at the time of the attacks, Thomas Von Esen, acknowledged that there were difficulties with the radio system.
However, he said any lack of discipline came from the firefighters trying to behave in a heroic manner.
343 firefighters and 23 New York police officers were killed when the towers collapsed on September 11.
The draft report by the consultant, McKinsey & Company, concludes that problems with the radio system caused commanders to lose touch with many companies once firefighters ascended into the towers.
The lapses in discipline led firefighters to rush to the scene without checking in with commanders at designated staging areas.
Even members of the department's 32-member executive staff exhibited too little restraint, the report concludes, with 26 of them showing up at the scene, a number of them without any defined role.
And the virtual absence of coordination with police officials, the consultants say, meant that fire commanders had no access to reports from police helicopters that hovered above the buildings, tracking their structural integrity and the progress of fires across the upper floors.
The full report, which is expected to be released early this week, acknowledges that the terrorist attack was an overwhelming event that required an unusual level of coordination.
