File photo: D.C. Fire and EMS Chief Kenneth Ellerbe gives remarks during a Fire & Emergency Medical Services Engine Company 29 Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony in Washington, D.C. on April 10, 2014.
Former D.C. Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe was found dead inside his Southeast D.C. home Sunday morning. He was 61.
D.C. police, along with fire and EMS personnel, were called to Ellerbe’s home in the 4500 block of Alabama Ave SE at 10:46 a.m. after getting a 911 call from a family member who reported that Ellerbe was unresponsive.
First responders pronounced him deceased at the scene.
D.C. police are conducting a routine death investigation and don’t suspect foul play.
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Ellerbe, who served as fire chief under now former D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, retired from the department in 2014.
He spent 31 years with DC Fire and EMS, including three as chief.
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“This was a dream for me when I became a firefighter in 1982. I will be eternally grateful to Mayor Gray for believing in me," Ellerbe said in a statement released shortly before his retirement.
D.C. fire said in a statement, "Our thoughts and prayers remain with his family."
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