After a face-to-face, commissioner puts out the fire

The controversy over hunky Philadelphia firefighter Jack Slivinski has finally been nipped in the bud.

Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers, who got hot under the collar when he learned that Slivinski had posed topless in front of the Logan Circle fountain two weeks ago for a charity calendar, met face-to-face yesterday with the 31-year-old firefighter.

The department had wrapped up its investigation of Slivinski, who was charged with conduct unbecoming a firefighter. All that was left was deciding what kind of discipline he should face.

Ayers settled on giving Slivinski a talking-to.

"He brought the kid in and told him he has to follow the rules, and now he can go on and get back to work," said Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Everett Gillison. "The commissioner handled it the proper way."

Slivinski had been barred from his unit, the department's elite Rescue 1.

Ayers said last week that he couldn't allow a photo showing a Philly firefighter's nipples to be published. The Fire Department, he said, sold safety, not sex.

Slivinski was photographed by Katherine Kostreva, who's snapping pictures of brawny firefighters across the country for a charity calendar.

Slivinski opted to do the photo shoot after he and Bill Gault, the president of Fire Fighters Union Local 22, decided to award Philly's share of the proceeds to widows of local firefighters.

The only problem: They forgot to ask the department's top brass for permission, which Ayers said was a violation.

"This whole thing turned into a circus," Gault said. "There was never any malice here. He just wanted to help the widows, you know?"

Gillison said that the city solicitor's office will negotiate with Kostreva over whether Slivinski will be featured in the calendar.

"I'm sure it will be worked out to everyone's satisfaction," Gillison said.