Jonith Johnson Jr., in the midst of his annual training last week as a helicopter pilot for the Los Angeles Fire Department in Lafayette, Louisiana, recalled his experiences as a firefighter and his upcoming appearance on a special first responders episode of “The Price is Right.”
Johnson got a flyer from another first responder about the show and said that he always dreamed of being on it.
“I was just getting off of, I think I was working almost, you know, five or six days in a row. So, I thought it’d be cool to go down there and experience that. So, I went with one of my other coworkers,” Johnson said.
He added that he went through the interview process with other first responders and went onto Bidder’s Row.
Johnson also discussed his 20-year career as a firefighter, especially his passion for aviation. He currently works for Fire Station 114 out of Van Nuys Airport.
“I’ve always, you know, knew that was a path I wanted to take with the department, so very early on in my career, I started doing flight lessons on my days off,” Johnson said.
He got his pilot license and then transitioned to helicopter duty. He now holds an airline transport pilot rating — the highest certification available for helicopter pilots.
He added that he enjoys going to work every day and being able to help his community.
“I was one of the firefighters on the Palisades Fire. That was, that was a surreal experience, just sheer devastation,” Johnson recalled.
He remembered working really hard in that firefight.
“The helicopters kept flying and we just swapped off pilots when we could. There were certain times we had (when) we couldn’t fly because it was too dangerous,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s appearance on the first responders episode of “The Price Is Right” is scheduled to air on Friday.
