Russellville firefighter publishes children’s book about learning fire safety skills

For Russellville Fire Department firefighter Alejandro Wallace, educating children on the importance fire safety is a lesson it’s never too early to learn.

When Wallace and his wife Caitlin became parents, he thought about the best way to teach his own children fire safety skills. And what better place to begin that process than his workplace, the Russellville Fire Station.

By showing them where he works, allowing them to explore fire trucks and firefighting equipment, the importance of ‘Stop, Drop and Roll,’ among other important lessons, Wallace became inspired to share those lessons in the form of a children’s book.

That led to Wallace writing a children’s book, “A Day at the Fire Station with Dad,” sharing his children’s experience in learning lifesaving fire safety skills as a way to help other young children gain the same knowledge.

It’s the young firefighter’s first book and it’s a true family affair. Caitlin did the book’s illustrations and it chronicles the day his daughter Aurora and her little brother Asher visited the station where dad works.

“It’s been a several year process,” Wallace said of writing and publishing the book. “My kids gave me the inspiration to complete it as a way to teach my daughter fire safety skills that could one day save her life.

“I believe it’s a valuable skill to learn. It’s so important for all kids to know about fire safety,” he added.

Knowing about the dangers of matches and lighters, learning how to crawl low under smoke and knowing where the meeting spot for their family in case of an emergency at life lessons for all ages.

And through her day at the fire station with dad, Aurora and her brother Asher learn those very skills.

And in the process of learning first safety skills, they also gained an appreciation for firefighters and how they serve their community.

“A Day at the Fire Station with Dad” is available at www.amazon.com for around $8.

While it’s hardly the first children’s book where kids visit a fire station, Wallace’s twist on the story is that Aurora and Asher’s father is a firefighter.

So their trip to the fire station is more than just education on fire safety. It’s a way to spend time with dad at work and learn how he spends his days as a firefighter.

Wallace self-published his 24-page book and it went on sale last month.

Wallace said he ‘definitely’ wants to write more children’s books after finally completing his first.

“There will be more books for sure. I’ve got a lot of ideas I’m planning to turn into future stories,” Wallace said.