Safety groups demand expanded Firestone Wilderness recall

WASHINGTON (Jan. 5)—Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. and Ford Motor Co. should expand their 6.5 million-tire recall to include all 15- and 16-inch Firestone Wilderness AT tires of the type used as original equipment on the Ford Explorer, according to a report issued by safety watchdog groups Public Citizen and Safetyforum.com. This would include 5.6 million 15-inch tires and "a much smaller number of 16-inch tires," the report stated. Bridgestone/Firestone and Ford Motor Co. used "a very selective and limited database" to conclude that only the 15-inch Wilderness tires made at the Bridgestone/Firestone plant in Decatur, Ill., were faulty, the groups said, whereas the Decatur tires are "identical in design" to Wilderness tires made elsewhere. Furthermore, the failure mode in the recalled tires is virtually identical to that in non-recalled ones, they said. Bridgestone/Firestone and Ford officials could not be reached for comment.