Crews recovered the body of a Detroit firefighter who disappeared in the Detroit River while helping to rescue some girls from drowning
Crews on Saturday recovered the body of a Detroit firefighter who disappeared in the Detroit River while helping rescue a few girls from drowning a day earlier, authorities said.
Detroit Fire Sgt. Sivad Johnson’s body was pulled from the river Saturday afternoon after a six-hour search, said Dave Fornell, deputy commissioner for the Detroit Fire Department. The body was found not far from Belle Isle, he said.
Johnson was off-duty and was walking with his 10-year-old daughter Friday night near the Detroit Yacht Club when they heard three young girls screaming for help out of the water, Fornell said.
Johnson, a 26-year-old Detroit Fire Department veteran, jumped in to help, while a civilian and a neighborhood boat also helped, he said.
“Of the citizen, we talked last night, there were a lot of rip currents and the sergeant went out into the water,” Fornell said. “One girl was rescued by the civilian and the boat picked up the two other girls.”
After the nearly 45-minute-long rescue, Johnson’s daughter realized he was missing and called 911, authorities said. The search for Johnson was eventually canceled due to darkness, but was resumed Saturday morning.
“It is thought that the father may have been dragged under water by the rip currents and that no one noticed,” Michigan State Police told Johnson in a statement.
Despite being off-duty at the time, Johnson’s heroic sacrifice will be described as a line-of-duty death, Fornell said.
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