Sivad Heshimu Johnson (September 5, 1970 - August 21, 2020) was an American firefighter. He worked for 26 years at the

Detroit Fire Department The Detroit Fire Department (DFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The DFD operates 47 fire companies and 25 ambulances out of 36 fire stations located throughout the city, wit ...

Life

In 2017, the

awarded Sergeant Johnson its Medal of Honor. Johnson's father and brother also served as firefighters. On April 16, 2019, Johnson provided a first person account of being trapped, while trying to rescue a civilian from a house fire. Johnson was also an artist and motivational speaker. Johnson's name Sivad is Davis, backwards, a way to honor his mother, whose maiden name was Davis.

Death

Johnson died while trying to save three children from drowning, on August 21, 2020. Johnson was off-duty, visiting Belle Isle with his daughter, when he heard the cries of three sisters. Johnson and other on-lookers dived in. The girls were saved, but Johnson drowned; his body was found the next day. ''

Click on Detroit WDIV-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with NBC. It serves as the flagship broadcast property of the Graham Media Group subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company. WDIV-TV maintains studio faciliti ...

'' reported that he may have been swept away by a rip current.

Legacy

On August 31, 2020, Detroit introduced a new

fireboat A fireboat or Fire-float Pyronaut, fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with ...

and announced that the new vessel would be named '' Sivad Johnson''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Sivad Heshimu 1970 births 2020 deaths 21st-century American firefighters Deaths by drowning in Michigan