By Nicole MOORE

On Sept. 20, Lincoln Elementary SOn Sept. 20, Lincoln Elementary School’s kindergarten and first grade students ventured to the Glendale Fire Station 28 to attend a reading of “Red the Fire Truck: A Story of Friendship” with the book’s author Debi Devens.

Devens, who has previously written for various blogs and newspapers, is a first- time author. “Red the Fire Truck: A Story of Friendship” has been in the works for over two decades, she said. Devens added that she initially had difficulty publishing the story because she found that publishers were seeking more interactive, rather than story-based, books for children.

Devens’ father, Art “Lightning” Voltz, served as inspiration for the book. Voltz, a retired firefighter, worked as an engineer at both Glendale Fire Stations 28 and 29.

“Everything [in this book] is based on my dad’s love for his job … He had a hero’s heart on and off duty,” said Devens.

Prior to the elementary school students arriving at the fire station, Devens shared a childhood story of when her father fell off a roof while on a call. She alluded to this as a moment of understanding the fear loved ones of firefighters go through on a day-to-day basis.

“There were days I didn’t know if I would see my dad again,” Devens shared.

Not only did Devens’ father inspire her to write, he ignited her love of reading. Every night her father was off-duty he would read to her, she said. In publishing “Red the Fire Truck: A Story of Friendship,” Devens hopes to inspire children to want to read and expand their imaginations.

Fire Stations 28’s current engineer, Aaron Rivera, read the book aloud to the excited Lincoln elementary school students. When he asked if any them of wanted to be firefighters when they grew up nearly all of their hands shot up.

After the reading, the students received a tour of the fire trucks and the fire station. During the tour, they were able to ask the firefighters questions.

While Devens does not have any immediate plans to write another children’s book, she does have a faith-based film about members of the Marines in the works.

For more information about the book, visit https://www.facebook.com/RedTheFireTruck.

  Nicole MOORE