WARREN Off the wall: Firefighters pose for a hot calendar

Half the proceeds will go to charity.
By DENISE DICK
and PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Let's get to the meat of the matter: Firefighters are hot.
Twenty-seven Warren city firefighters are showing off their firefighting physiques for a 2003 calendar.
Half of the money raised will go to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Salvation Army and a Warren charity or nonprofit organization. The other half will be placed in a fund for the purchase of a union hall for the firefighters.
"It's something that's been talked about for years," said Chuck Eggleston, a firefighter, one of the organizers of the fund-raiser, and one of the prospective calendar models. "It was just a matter of someone picking up the ball and running with it."
A group of press and other celebrity judges will choose the 12 flame-dousing, heart-melting "Men of the WFD" who will heat up the pages of the calendar.
Jim Poptic, a firefighter for about a month, shed his shirt for the camera Wednesday morning in the basement of city hall. The buff, suntanned 25-year-old posed like a pro for Diana Lynne of Diana Lynne Photography.
"It's not too bad," he said. "I didn't know what to expect. I've never done anything like this before."
Poptic appeared relaxed as he flexed his muscles and slung an oxygen tank over his shoulder, displaying smiles and serious stares in the photographer's direction.
But he seemed a bit embarrassed when Lynne, who is taking the shots for free, smeared coal dust on his face and chest to make him look like he just returned from battling a blaze.
What about the reactions of wives and girlfriends?
"I don't think they're talking to me," Eggleston said, joking.
To get a calendar
The calendars will be available for $10 beginning in September at the Book Nook in the Elm Road Plaza, Borders, Little Professor Book Center in the Market Place, Macali's Giant Eagle in the Elm Road Plaza, North Perk in downtown, Sun Kissed Tanning on Elm Road and at Campus Book & amp; Supply at Youngstown State University.
Ads may be purchased for $200 to $350. The original run will be 2,500 calendars with additional printing if demand arises.
Good-natured ribbing from fellow firefighters is expected.
"Mine hasn't started," Poptic said. "When it hits the paper, that's when it will start."
"Any kind of publicity will be refrigerator material," Eggleston added.