CHICAGO (AP) -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Thursday appointed a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to investigate a fire that killed six people at a high-rise Chicago office building last week.
The decision was a reversal by Blagojevich, who a day earlier said the state would not get involved unless there were questions about the thoroughness of the investigations by Cook County, the city and other agencies.
Blagojevich said he asked James Lee Witt, head of FEMA from 1993 to 2001, to investigate the fire at the Cook County administration building because an investigative team being selected by the county board president lacked expertise.
Board President John Stroger has not identified his selections, saying only that the team will have five members.
Since the Oct. 17 blaze, questions have been raised about the building's lack of sprinklers and the locked doors that prevented employees from escaping a smoky stairwell.
