NYC Firefighters Fear Colleague Who Routinely Flees Fires, Was a ‘Priority Hire’ Due to ‘Discrimination’

NYC Firefighters Fear Colleague Who Routinely Flees Fires, Was a ‘Priority Hire’ Due to ‘Discrimination’

Affirmative action is a horrible idea wherever it’s enacted, but it’s especially dangerous in fields of public service like firefighting and law enforcement. A case in point would be Michael D. Johnson, a firefighter made a priority hire for the New York City Fire Department because of “discrimination”, and who has a habit of putting his fellow firefighters in danger.

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Michael D. Johnson won’t fight fires. Instead he stays on the sidelines as his Engine Co. 257 colleagues rush into burning buildings, FDNY insiders told The Post.

Nicknamed “Tragic Johnson” by rank and file, he’s managed to evade the smoke and flames several times since joining the Canarsie, Brooklyn, firehouse last year, sources confirmed.

“To have a guy that you know to be afraid is not going to be there for you when you need him to be — it’s frightening,” said one FDNY source.

The latest fright unfolded April 2 at a three-alarm blaze on East 78th Street, when Johnson’s irked captain radioed a “mayday” after discovering Johnson was AWOL, sources said. He had been assigned as “backup” to the nozzle man carrying the hose into the burning two-story building.

That left just two firefighters — the first and a third — to haul the heavy hose up a long staircase and spray water on the flames.

A photo obtained by The Post shows Johnson at the curb next to a FDNY vehicle while fellow firefighters march up steps into a house engulfed in black smoke.

He had to try three times to pass the fire academy, and has required retraining twice. While the color of someone’s skin does not affect their ability to be a good firefighter, this is a clear case of someone who should not be serving as one, as he obviously does not have what it takes — and his ineptitude and cowardice is going to kill someone if something is not done.

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