LANCASHIRE fireman John Williamson has saluted the bravery of his close friend, New York fire chief Peter Ganci, who dug himself out of the rubble of the World Trade Centre and continued to help others right up until his death.

Mr Williamson, Lancashire's assistant chief officer, will be travelling to America for a memorial service in memory of those who died, to be held in Central Park next Tuesday.

Last week, Mr Williamson revealed how he spent all night trying to contact Mr Ganci's wife to make sure her husband was OK.

When he eventually got through early on Wednesday, she told him Mr Ganci, 54, was one of the fire officers who had been close to the south tower when it had collapsed.

The two had struck up a close friendship after Mr Williamson had been sent to New York to study their arson investigation techniques.

Mr Ganci had returned to Lancashire several times and had visited several fire stations in East Lancashire.

He also welcomed Mr Williamson to New York on several occasions -- and even gave the Lancashire officer a personal tour of the World Trade Centre towers, which were one of New York's best-known attractions.

Mr Ganci was due in the county later on this year to give a speech on arson and also planned to visit the Williamson family with his wife Kathy at the end of the month.

He had been friends with Mr Williamson for 14 years. Mr Williamson said: "Pete was astonishingly brave.

"A colleague of his told me on the phone he had dug himself out of the debris when the first tower collapsed only to be buried by the second one.

"The colleague also told me how he was seen sending people away from the scene but stayed put because he had committed his men into the building.

"He was at the foot of the tower when it collapsed which is how they found his body relatively easily.

"His funeral was on Saturday where his body was sent on his final journey on an old fashioned Mac fire engine. Thousands of people were there, including Mayor Rudolf Guiliani."

He added: "He was very good to fire fighters in Lancashire and when I took him to visit a station in Preston, he chatted with officers and gave them advice.

"Considering he was in charge of one of the world's largest fire departments, he was pretty humble.

"I would also like to salute the bravery of the 340 fire fighters who died last week. Our hearts go out to them and I shall be proud to be going out to New York to see the family and pay tribute to the brave men who died."

Sixteen fire officers from Lancashire put on alert to help the hunt for survivors have been stood down. The team, which helped at earthquakes in Gujurat and Turkey, had been on stand-by.