WASHINGTON – D.C.’s fire chief is commenting for the first time on the lack of response from D.C. fire and EMS employees as a man was suffering from a heart attack across the street from a fire station.

The man, Cecil Mills, ultimately died.

Chief Kenneth Ellerbe tells Fox 5 that he knew the victim. Mills, 77, was a longtime government employee. Mills worked for the parks department for 40 years.

“It’s a tragic incident. And is something I really wished had not happened and it’s something we are investigating,” says Ellerbe.

He adds that he would tell Mills’ daughter that her father was someone he knew well and that he is sorry.

“She understands, I’m sure, that I’m sorry for what happened and regret what occurred. We are an agency that is responsible for taking care of the city,” Ellerbe says.

“I’m not going to say I take the blame,” Ellerbe tells Fox 5. “I take the responsibility for the agency.”

There is an ongoing investigation into the Jan. 25 incident, looking at the role of dispatchers and the ambulance crew that went to a northwest address and not the correct address in northeast D.C.

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