He’s a firefighter in name only.
Michael D. Johnson won’t fight fires. Instead, he stays on the sidelines as his Engine Company 257 colleagues rush into burning buildings, FDNY insiders told The Post.
Nicknamed “Tragic Johnson” by the rank and file, he’s managed to evade the smoke and flames several times since joining the Canarsie, Brooklyn, firehouse last year, sources confirmed.
“Everyone is concerned about working with him,” said a third source. “We’re concerned for our safety, but we’re also concerned for his safety.”
But department members are afraid to openly complain or criticize Johnson, who is black, because he was hired under a court order to increase minority hiring in the FDNY.
Johnson, 41, a former city EMT who earned two medals on that job, was among 282 “priority hires” — applicants passed over in 1999 or 2000 as a result of discrimination, a federal judge ruled.
http://nypost.com/2015/05/17/firefighters-fear-for-their-lives-over-fire-fleeing-colleague/
Michael D. Johnson won’t fight fires. Instead, he stays on the sidelines as his Engine Company 257 colleagues rush into burning buildings, FDNY insiders told The Post.
Nicknamed “Tragic Johnson” by the rank and file, he’s managed to evade the smoke and flames several times since joining the Canarsie, Brooklyn, firehouse last year, sources confirmed.
“Everyone is concerned about working with him,” said a third source. “We’re concerned for our safety, but we’re also concerned for his safety.”
But department members are afraid to openly complain or criticize Johnson, who is black, because he was hired under a court order to increase minority hiring in the FDNY.
Johnson, 41, a former city EMT who earned two medals on that job, was among 282 “priority hires” — applicants passed over in 1999 or 2000 as a result of discrimination, a federal judge ruled.
http://nypost.com/2015/05/17/firefighters-fear-for-their-lives-over-fire-fleeing-colleague/