Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis on Wednesday declared an outdated FDNY firefighter exam racially biased, exposing the department to millions of dollars in damages and possible court oversight of its hiring practices.

It's a foolish ruling.

True, the department historically has been overwhelmingly white. But that's a disparity it's been correcting through targeted recruitment.

Nor did Garaufis find actual bias on the part of the FDNY or its test.

Instead, by the doctrine of "disparate impact," he found that the relatively low number of minority candidates passing the test in itself was practically enough to justify intervention.

This is nonsense. The test asked perfectly fair questions about firefighting.

"Disparate" results don't amount to racial bias -- or warrant "reform."

And, again, the department had already moved to improve its racial representation through recruitment.

Plus, it had already adopted a new test.

Notably, blacks and Latinos make up one-third of the newest class of firefighters, compared to 10 percent of the force.

That's a welcome sign.

At the same time, though, the new test was made easier, raising fears about FDNY standards.

Clearly, court meddling isn't going to help keep New Yorkers safe in the event of fires.