NEW YORK (AP) -- New York City's former fire commissioner, Thomas Von Essen, is writing a memoir about the Sept. 11 tragedy.

The book, tentatively titled ``Strong of Heart: Life and Death in the New York Fire Department,'' will be published by ReganBooks by the end of the year.

``It would, of course, be nice to think that a book like this, or the flood of other books and memories of Sept. 11, would help us to make a little sense or find some meaning out of the horror of that day,'' Von Essen said in a statement this week.

``But I never really believed that any of the deaths I saw could be explained, and I never found anything comforting or good from any tragedy.''

According to ReganBooks, ``Strong of Heart'' will recount ``the harrowing behind-the-scenes drama as the events of that tragic September morning unfolded, as well as the challenges he and other city officials faced in the days that followed.''

The 11,000-plus New York Fire Department lost 343 firefighters because of the attacks on the World Trade Center.

ReganBooks, an imprint of HarperCollins, recently published a memoir by former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik.