By Eden Laikin
Newsday
LONG BEACH, N.Y. — The volunteer arm of the Long Beach fire department has been taking heat over a fundraising calendar it published of barely clothed female models, some provocatively garbed in firefighter gear and posing with department equipment.
City officials said the 14-page calendar showed poor judgment, and fire department officials were ordered to stop selling them. It was unclear how many had been printed or sold.
“The production reflects a lapse of judgment that failed to consider the sensitivities of the community and certain good common sense,” said Long Beach City Manager Charles Theofan. He said that no one in the city administration knew about the calendar until he was questioned about it by a Newsday reporter.
The calendar was produced by the volunteer branch of the fire department, separate from the paid force. However, Theofan said the chief of the combined department, Marco Passaro, told him he had OK’d the fundraiser. Passaro declined to comment for this story.
Theofan said he was satisfied it would not happen again. He said that there are no plans to discipline anyone.
City officials said Passaro told him the models were not compensated and that the trucks were staffed at all times.
The City of Long Beach supplies volunteers with all their gear. All independently raised funds are used at the chief’s discretion and go toward items such as dinners and T-shirts, city officials said.
For February, the model wears a fire-engine-red lingerie top and bottom and stilettos and leans against a fire truck emblazoned with the words West End Tower Ladder, one of the volunteer companies. For five other months, the women are topless except for artfully placed firefighter’s suspenders.
One volunteer firefighter from that company, Tower Ladder 72, uploaded the photos to his MySpace page, but the photos have been removed. He could not be reached for comment.
Long Beach and Garden City are the only Long Island departments with combination paid and volunteer divisions.
Copyright 2008 Newsday