Firefighter Angel Juarbe Jr.
Ladder 12

Memorial Service
held on October 27, 2001

A Pinup and a Sleuth

The sun seemed to shine on Angel Juarbe, a firefighter with Ladder 12 in Chelsea. He was an animal lover, with eight formerly stray dogs, who visited Tanzania to see lions and zebras, then left just two days before the bombing of the United States Embassy in 1998. Single and handsome, he was one of 12 New York firefighters chosen to pose for the calendar "Firehouse Hunks 2002." A week before the Sept. 11 tragedy, Mr. Juarbe, 35, was the winner in an eight-part game show on the Fox network in which 10 contestants, chosen from 3,000 applicants, competed to solve a fake murder. The show was called "Murder in Small Town X," and Mr. Juarbe tracked down the killer. He won a Jeep and $250,000. He kept the secret from his family until Sept. 4, when the final show was broadcast. After the terror attacks, the show's entire cast visited his family. His mother, Miriam, recalled what his friends said. "If only I could live one day of your life, even an hour." She added, "Most of them are married, you know." Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on October 11, 2001.

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