Sedgwick County remains dedicated to supporting the community’s public safety needs. The City of Wichita reported that the City has allowed Sedgwick County fire fighters access to the City of Wichita’s Regional Fire Training Center. While this is true, access to the training facility is inconsistent and unpredictable based on the City’s priorities without regard for the County. Training would be scheduled and cancelled or not given consideration based on the contentious relationship between the two entities. It is the County’s goal to repair that relationship.
An agreement needs to be established between the City of Wichita Fire Department and Sedgwick County Fire District that provides for a fair and consistent process and structure to allow both entities equal time and reliable scheduling for fire training where both entities have equal consideration. The cost of training is not the issue. The Sedgwick County fire fighters train free in the County parks, using structures and playground equipment based on not being allowed consistent access to the Regional Fire Training Center.
The safety and welfare of the fire fighters and citizens they serve needs to be paramount over the current broken arrangement in place today. It's a moral imperative we have as a City and County governing body to solve this problem. The Law Enforcement Training Center and Regional Fire Training Center should be handled equally providing fair and consistent "joint" training in the best interest of public safety and the citizens of Wichita and Sedgwick County.