Firies strip off for hot charity calendar IT'S hot work for NSW firies. They've been battling blazes and saving homes working almost 18-hour shifts, but 14 NSW firemen have taken some time off to raise money for charity by going shirtless down a catwalk. The firies, from as far as Wollongong, Berry and Newcastle, strutted down a black runway in the bottom half of their uniform at a Sydney "ladies event" event on Thursday. It's about bringing attention to a good cause. They all feature in the 2014 Firefighters Calendar, posing with ropes and hoses against iconic Sydney backdrops such as the Harbour Bridge, proceeds of which go towards funding the Westmead Children's Hospital Burns Unit. Some of the blokes, such as City of Sydney station firefighter Mick Paddon, turned up to the calendar launch event after having worked a 16-hour shift battling blazes in the Blue Mountains. "I was tired yesterday, I didn't get home until midnight and I started at seven in the morning," he told AAP. I was pretty broken yesterday. The heat, the wind, it zaps it out of you. Mr Paddon is the January face of the calendar and said while he would have preferred to be back at work helping workmates, the calendar launch was for a good cause. You feel a bit guilty, but this is for a great cause and you can never plan these things. "Mr December," Jeff Lay, the station officer at Marrickville Fire Station, said he was so tired he didn't even know what day it was. You just get the job done whatever it takes. However you have to do it. He said he signed up to be featured in the calendar after being encouraged by family and friends. "This is another element to the human side of what we do - it's the victims and what this calendar is about, coincides with what we've been doing this week - helping people that can't help themselves," he said. We're raising money for an important cause. Rhett Mitchell, the calendar co-ordinator, said they're hoping to push past the $1 million mark this year, after first launching the calendar back in 2005. Last year's calendar raised a record $51,122, taking the total money raised from the project to more than $206,000 so far. "It's a small part of a big picture, and almost every guy I know already gives money out of their pay towards the burns unit," he said. The NSW firefighters calendar is $10 and available at selected The Coffee Club outlets or www.nswfirefighterscalendar.com.au