Jorge Hurtado, a wildland firefighter and local author, has developed a children’s book series designed to educate kids on fire safety and the various positions within wildland firefighting. 

Hurtado first began firefighting in 2016 as a seasonal wildland firefighter on the Cleveland National Forest near San Diego. Following that he worked at the Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles. Since 2023, he has worked in Los Padres National Forest. 

His goal for the series was to “inform the public about wildland firefighters,” he said. “I just wanted to start with kids, but adults can learn from it too.”

Hurtado has nieces and nephews who were confused about what he did for work and initially thought he was “a city firefighter in a red engine.” But they began to understand after he wrote the first book in the series. 

“Sparky the Brave Wildland Firefighter” follows Sparky and his team as they take on the various challenges faced by wildland firefighters in the field.

Hurtado took inspiration from some of his fellow firefighters in the Hotshot Crew within the U.S. Forest Service for characters. 

“I just want the public to know what we do, what tools we use, how we fight fires… we’re not really in the spotlight so not very many people know about it,” he said.

While there are only two books in the series at the moment, “Sparky the Brave Wildland Firefighter” and “Year of the Hotshot,” Hurtado has plans for eight to 10 books in the series.

Each book will follow a different department within wildland firefighting, he said.

The series is available for purchase on Hurtado’s website.