The mayor’s office has called for the D.C. Fire and EMS Department to launch an internal investigation into the death of 77-year-old Medric Cecil Mills, who collapsed across the street from a fire station on Rhode Island Avenue NE Saturday and later died, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Paul Quander says.

The nearby firefighters reportedly did not assist Mills and instructed his daughter to call 911, saying they could not respond unless they were dispatched.

Quander says there is no such policy on the books and, if rescue personnel were on the scene, they should have responded.

“It is expected that when people are in need that fire personnel will in fact respond immediately,” he says.

Quander has no timeline for when the investigation would conclude, but says it will be “thorough and quick.”

Due to an editing error, the post incorrectly attributed Quander’s comments to a press release. Photo by Darrow Montgomery