9/11 ‘hero’ fire official faces probe for calling crew to clear snow from his house

Daniel Nigro called on firefighters after Storm Jonas so he could attend an emergency briefing on time

The commissioner was allegedly 'disappointed' that the story got leaked to the press (Dennis A. Clark / New York Post)

Head of the New York fire department and a “hero” of 9/11 is facing a probe after he called on firefighters to clear the snow from his own front yard over the weekend.

Daniel Nigro, the Fire Department New York (FDNY) Commissioner, has been accused of abusing his power when he used two fire crews to shovel snow from his house after the blizzard on Sunday.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley of Queens, the same area where Mr Nigro lives, said the action “raises concern about the appropriate use of city resources”, as reported by the New York Post.

NYPD Commissioner William Bratton agreed the Department of Investigation should look into the matter but defended Mr Nigro as a “hero of the city”. “This is an individual who was at 9/11, who led that department after 9/11,” he said.

Mr Nigro retired from the FDNY as chief of department in 2002 due to a respiratory illness caused by working at Ground Zero.

The FDNY said on Wednesday the two firetrucks only helped Mr Nigro for “five minutes” to clear a path which the commissioner had already started working on.

Mr Nigro was due at the Office for Emergency Management for a briefing and his driver contacted the firehouse to make sure his boss’ vehicle did not get stuck like the previous evening.

“The firefighters that helped Commissioner Nigro finish digging through a 4-foot snow berm to get to his Department vehicle early Sunday did not miss any calls,” said FDNY spokesman Jim Long said, as reported by Newsday.

"Storm Jonas" hit the Eastern Coast over the weekend, dumping a record amount of snow and killing at least 25 people.