Dilemma over firefighter pin-ups

It was conceived as a piece of harmless fun to raise money for charity. Twelve of the bestlooking members of the New York Fire Department stripped down for a calendar called "Firehouse Hunks". But now three of the pin-ups are dead, lost in the World Trade Center disaster and fire chiefs are facing a growing dilemma over whether to scrap the calendar or release the photographs as a tribute.

Among those lost on 11 September was Robert Cordice, 28, of Engine Squad 1 in Brooklyn. In the summer, he had stripped off to the waist and posed on a huge bronze bull that marks the heart of Wall Street. His body has still not been found.

Within days of the disaster, fire chiefs had quietly scrapped the idea of a 2002 calendar, which was to have another fireman, Daniel Keane, posed in front of the Twin Towers on its cover. But as the New Year approaches, relatives of the lost men are pressing to revive it in their memory.

At his memorial service, Mr Cordice's mother proudly displayed the photograph. "He worked out for a month so he could look extra good with his shirt off," Mrs Cordice told the Wall Street Journal.

Also killed was Thomas Foley, 32, another member of Engine Squad 1. He posed shirtless on the observation deck of the Chrysler Building and was said to look like "a younger version of Russell Crowe''. Angel Juarbe, 35, the third fireman lost from the calendar, was last seen going to the aid of an injured firemen in the North Tower.

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