News

NEW YORK, NY August 12, 2005 —Dispatch tapes from the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center will be released today by the Fire Department. The Department was forced to release the material following a lawsuit by the New York Times and 8 family members. It's also releasing the transcripts of interviews with 500 surviving fire fighters.

REPORTER: Attorney Norman Siegel, who represents the family members in the suit, says they'll be listening closely for anything they can learn about where their loved ones were on the morning of the attacks. But he says they'll also be listening with critical ears.

SIEGEL: It's possible that some material will be redacted and the family members will listen carefully to find out what we have and to determine whether there's more that we need.

REPORTER: The state's court of appeals ruled that the FDNY could delete any information from the interviews that the firefighters found too personal.

The city is not releasing tapes from 911 calls made that day because the court said voices of the operators could be made public, but releasing the voices of callers would require permission from their next of kin. Siegel says negotiations about this will continue.