Residents demand release of Bexley apartment fire investigation report

At public communications on April 24, resident Karen Doscher asked the council to release the full fire investigation report into the Aug. 8, 2023 Bexley apartment fire, saying the public has seen only a heavily redacted nine-page record and stating the unredacted report contains factual inaccuracies.

Doscher said the June 2024 open-records request produced an almost entirely redacted document, and a subsequent follow-up request returned no change in status. She questioned the city's statement that the investigation remains open while, she said, body-worn camera footage from the fire was destroyed. "How is that possible?" Doscher asked, and she pressed council to review the unredacted report and to fulfill the open-records request.

Doscher called for "honesty, accountability, and truth" for the families displaced by the fire and for firefighters who responded. The council did not take action during the public-comment segment; staff did not respond on the record at the time beyond a brief acknowledgment of the comment.

Transcript notes: Doscher said the fire destroyed Building 10 at Bexley Apartments, displaced families, and that the city's after-action review did not provide requested clarity. She asked whether the council would review the full report and whether the report could be released now with the option to withhold or re-open sections if needed.