THE NEXT 24 HOURS WILL BE A HOT TIME FOR HELL'S KITCHEN, AS "EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION" HEATEDLY RENOVATES THE BACHELOR PAD OF TWO MEMBERS OF THE NEW YORK FIRE DEPARTMENT IN RECORD TIME, ON "EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION," SEPTEMBER 12 ON ABC

"Friends Helping Friends" - After the designers, contractors and neighborhood volunteers of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" get done with the 850-square foot bachelor pad of New York firemen Lieutenant Pete Wasserman and his roommate, firefighter Joe Liselli, their home in the Hell's Kitchen area of the city will be hotter than ever. Since these brave men put their lives on the line every day for the people of New York City, the design team is more than happy to give something back by completely renovating and rebuilding their second floor apartment in less than 12 working hours - not the usual seven days -- on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network. (Rebroadcast. OAD: 5/6/04, as a two-hour episode).

On September 11, 2001, Pete and Joe woke up like the rest of America to tragedy. They immediately raced out of their apartment in Hell's Kitchen towards their respective firehouses. Half-way to his station in the Bronx, Joe learned that all 15 of his fellow firefighters were killed in the World Trade Center, as they were one of the first teams to respond.

Both Pete and Joe managed to make it to the WTC immediately after the second tower came crashing down. They spent the next two months digging through rubble for 16 to 18 hours a day, pulling out the bodies of the 3000 people who perished that fateful day.

They spent so much time at their jobs that they have had neither the time nor energy to do anything with their apartment. Although some of their fellow firefighters and FDNY hockey teammates like to use their place as a crash pad, Joe's girlfriend, Suzy, won't even step foot in the bathroom!

Both New York natives, Pete and Joe have been friends since college. They're career firefighters -- Pete recently became a lieutenant, and Joe is studying to become a lieutenant himself. Before Joe joined the department, he served for three years as a New York City police officer. Both Pete and Joe dream of becoming a Fire Chief so they can help their brothers in the FDNY.

The members of the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" team will do their frantic best to completely renovate Pete and Joe's apartment. There will be no hesitation to tear down walls, reconstruct rooms, rewire an entire electrical system or replace old plumbing, if the job calls for it. The team is committed to adding style and design, regardless of the time frame.

Throughout the special, viewers will see the transformation, starting with Ty's famous "Good morning!," and they will witness, live, those final two hours when tensions are highest... the work's not quite done, the designers aren't quite agreeing and the roommates are only blocks away!

The designers for this episode will be team leader Ty Pennington, Paul DiMeo, Paige Hemmis, Tracy Hutson, Michael Moloney, Constance Ramos and Preston Sharp.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. The series is executive-produced by Tom Forman and Craig Armstrong.

This program carries a TV-PG parental guideline.