Polk County Commissioners are assuring the public there will be an external investigation into the fatal fire that claimed the life of 76-year-old Lorretta Pickard. On Friday afternoon, the Florida Fire Chiefs’ Association declined the county’s request for it to investigate.
The following is a portion of that letter from Executive Director Wm. Ray Colburn:
I have now had time to review your request and consult with the Association’s Executive Board. As a result of said review and discussion, it has been determined that your request for the Florida Fire Chiefs’ Association to conduct an independent peer review is outside our scope. Therefore, we must decline your request to conduct said peer review. Also, we respectfully
request that you remove any and all social media post that reference the Florida Fire Chiefs’ Association and the misrepresentation of an agreement between the Association and Polk County Government.
County Commission Chairman George Lindsey says they will now look for another organization to conduct the external investigation.
“We are absolutely committed to this third party review,” said Lindsey. “So there are a narrow number of folks that are talented and willing and able and have the expertise to do this, but we’re going to find them.”
County Commissioner John Hall is also confident there will be an investigation into what happened.
“There are people who are concerned,” said Commissioner Hall.
“The thing that we have is an investigation and we’re going to let that play out before we make any determination on what was right, what was wrong.”
When the initial internal investigation began, it focused on Captain James Williams, who arrived on scene and told his supervisors he tried to make entry into the burning home but the fire was too intense.
He even “singed” himself in the process. He then took a video of the fire and posted it on Snapchat.
Fire officials believe Pickard was alive and on the phone with 911 at the time.
