The father of Paoly Bedeski, the woman killed in a mid-October fire, is calling for change in hopes other families do not have to suffer like him.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The father of Paoly Bedeski, the woman killed in a mid-October fire, is calling for change in hopes other families do not have to suffer like him.
The 22-year-old woman's death is at the center of criticism by the union representing Wichita firefighters. The union president says it could have been prevented if there weren't errors with emergency communications.
Sedgwick County Commissioners are defending the emergency communications director.
The second of five kids and the oldest of four daughters, Paoly was someone her family looked up to. She was creative and passionate about modeling and Mexican folk dance.
Her father, Lonny Bedeski, said the 22-year-old was passionate about expressing herself creatively and sharing her interests with others. He said she won pageants and helped her younger sisters gain an interest in dance. Her death left them all heartbroken.
"I mean, there's a side of town we can't even drive on now because they know her apartment," Lonny said.
Paoly called 911 when she woke up to smoke filling her apartment, but Sedgwick County Emergency Communications Director Elora Forshee said the dispatcher did not hear her address.
Lonny said his daughter did everything she could to make sure she got out.
"She was the one that made the call," Lonny said. "She was the one that told them Brookhollow Apartments. She's the one that got the fire department there, and she's the one that perishes. I don't understand that."
Lonny said he was never notified of Paoly's death by officials. Instead, he found out from a friend of a friend.
"You think there's always tomorrow," Lonny said. "You don't realize there's not a tomorrow."
According to Lonny, the system failed his daughter, his family, and all of Sedgwick County.
"Just thinking this could happen again to someone else, or God forbid happen to my family again, it's just gut-wrenching," Lonny said.
Lonny is now calling for the county to change how it trains dispatchers.
His lawyer would not confirm the family is pursuing legal action but said they haven't ruled anything out. He said they want to find out what happened, what went wrong, and how to make sure it never happens again.
