Sedgwick County commissioners were told Wednesday that a final request for proposals should be ready in two or three weeks for a third-party investigation into a fatal fire in Wichita last October.

The investigation will look at the 911 and fire response to a fire on October 13th at the Brookhollow Apartments near Central and Rock Road.  The fire resulted in the death of 22-year-old Paoly Bedeski, who had called 911 to get help.  Three residents of the apartment building were hospitalized.

Assistant county manager Rusty Leeds told commissioners that some final revisions are being made to a request for proposals and if it can be published at the end of January, with 45 to 60 days to get responses, a third-party investigator can start work in March and have some feedback to the county in mid-to-late summer.

Some commissioners provided thoughts on the process during Wednesday’s meeting.  Commissioner Jim Howell said he’s angry that there wasn’t a search for Bedeski’s apartment until 32 minutes into the call.  He said the public needs to know the full story.   Howell also talked about the policy on fire response and he said that needs to be driven by commissioners and not just by staff.  He said there should be a reasonable and adequate response to every call, and he suggested if there is a call for help that uses the word “fire” without a clear indication of what the situation is, there should be a response of three trucks.

Commissioner David Dennis said he is disappointed at the rhetoric that has been directed at the county over the response to the October fire, and he said some misinformation is being put out.   He said it needs to be clear that there should be an end-to-end review of every individual and organization that was involved in the response to the Brookhollow fire.

Commissioners are expected to consider approval of the request for proposals in two or three weeks.

[ photo:  KWCH ]