ROBERT MORAN
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia's fire commissioner decided Tuesday that a firefighter could return to his elite unit after getting into trouble last month for posing for a sexy firefighters calendar, officials said.

Jack Slavinski, 31, posed shirtless at the Swann Memorial Fountain for the calendar, which will feature firefighters from cities around the country. The photographer, Katherine Kostreva, has made similar calendars with New York firefighters.

Slavinski was expecting that the modeling gig would make $10,000 for a local fund that helps the widows of firefighters, a union official said.

Commissioner Lloyd Ayers, however, said it was a violation of department policy and transferred Slavinski from Rescue 1 to an engine company in Overbrook.

STATter911:
Nipplegate Is Over. Maybe

"The commissioner's position is that we're in the safety business, not the beefcake business," said Mark McDonald, spokesman for Mayor Nutter.

Slavinski appeared at a hearing Tuesday and was facing three disciplinary charges, said union official Mike Kane.

In a surprise move, Ayers appeared at the hearing and agreed to simply give Slavinski an oral reprimand and reassign him back to Rescue 1.

Kane said he had participated in more than 50 such hearings and "it was the first time the commissioner walked into the room and talked to anybody."

Slavinski's appearance in the calendar, which has yet to be published, remains in doubt. The city is weighing whether to take legal action to prevent his photo from being used, McDonald said.

Kostreva, the photographer, said the other cities in the calendar included New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, and St. Louis.

Only Philadelphia has made an issue of a firefighter's modeling for the calendar, which is set for release this summer.

Kostreva said that she hoped to work something out with the city, but that she also had no plans to remove Slavinski.

Copyright 2011 Philadelphia Newspapers, LLC
All Rights Reserved
May 4, 2011