Dramatic W.H. rescue retold in children’s book

Posted

Five officers from the Nassau County Police Department’s 5th Precinct who made a dramatic rescue of six West Hempstead residents during a serious fire earlier this year have become the subjects of a new children’s book, “Officer Jack — Rapid Response,” which was written by Maryland author James Burd Brewster and released earlier this week by J2B Publishing.

On Jan. 8, the officers — Luis Ascencio, Jason Dennington, Evan Marro, Peter Duvenhurst and James Schuerlein — responded to a fire in a furniture store on Hempstead Turnpike that had quickly spread to stores on either side as well as the apartments above. Seeing people in danger, Schuerlein and Ascencio quickly commandeered a ladder and rescued two people from a second-story window, and Marro and Dennington rescued four more people, two of them children, from the back of the building.

Numerous fire departments responded to the blaze, which, according to authorities, was one of the largest local fires in recent history, and ultimately displaced more than 60 people. The officers, the NCPD and the event are described in the book’s acknowledgements.

Brewster, who had been writing fictional children’s tales about firefighter heroism since 2013 through the book series “Uncle Rocky,” decided earlier this year to create a new series that would recount factual stories of police bravery around the world, called “Officer Jack.” “We decided to base each ‘Officer Jack’ story on an actual police response, so that parents would be able to tell and show their children that police officers can be trusted and should be respected,” Brewster said. “While Officer Jack and Officer Kate are our stories’ heroes, we make sure the real heroes (police officers) and their actual response are acknowledged in every book.”

The books are written for children ages 3-7.

Brewster said that the series were inspired over two decades ago, when his children were small and he would tell them bedtime stories of police and firefighter bravery. He added that he learned about public service through his years in the Coast Guard.