WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2000 -- Facing a growing swarm of lawsuits, Bridgestone/Firestone today announced that it will replace free of charge about 6.5 million tires sold as standard equipment on Ford Explorers and other sport utility vehicles.

Meanwhile, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is continuing its investigation and may order additional actions. There have been at least 46 reported deaths and hundreds of injuries in accidents involving the 15-inch tires.

The recall covers the P235/75R15 ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tires.

Bridgestone/Firestone has been moving quickly to try to settle more than 100 lawsuits filed by motorists and their passengers who were killed or injured in crashes involving the tire. Ford has also been named in many of the lawsuits and has also been trying to settle as many cases as possible.

Both companies have insisted on gag orders as part of their settlements, so the dollar value of the out-of-court agreements isn't known.

It's the largest tire recall in history and is likely to produce more lawsuits, as the extensive publicity alerts consumers who weren't previously aware of the problems with the tire.

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