CLEARWATER, Fla. — Fire Medic Jerome Mourelatos with Clearwater Fire & Rescue says he could never find a children's book to read to his sons that mirrored the scope of calls he responded to while on duty to read to his boys, so he wrote one.

"None of the books I ever read to them captured everything that we do, such as going to car crashes, going to people’s houses on medical calls, going to the beach on water rescue calls,” said Mourelatos, who has been with the CFR more than 15 years.

"I wanted to be able to help people out when they were having the worst day of their lives and be there for them," he said. "I realize being a fireman has been being able to help people out it so many more different ways."

Mourelatos wrote about all those different ways in his book, "The Adventures of Alex & Ben & the Beachwater Fire Department." The characters are based on his sons, now 11 and 13. His sister, Karen Moss, illustrated the book, which has been 11 years in the making.

"All kids love firemen, they love firemen," said Mourelatos. "They like the impression of it, but a lot of kids don’t really get the concept of what we do — they think it’s just fire engines and helmets and going into fires."

The book has been read at school functions and family members love the interaction the book brings.

Mourelatos' help in the community goes beyond his book and service calls. He reached out to a family he'd run frequent medical calls on for a boy who suffers seizures.

"I came up with the idea of building him a wheelchair ramp to help him and his family out," said Mourelatos. “Now, his grandmother is able to get him outside just to enjoy the simple things a lot of people take for granted.”

Mourelatos is grateful for being able to make that difference and he doesn't take for granted the opportunity to share a book that helps take the firefighter beyond the flames, both during storytime and real life.

"It’s been the best job in the world, I love it," he said. "Every day I come to work not knowing what to expect."