Children's author Alexander Townsend is gearing up for a cross-Canada tour in his self-built red fire truck to spread his message of fire safety.Sales from his book, The Adventures of Lil' Red, will be donated to fire halls in the communities he visits."It'll be a great journey," said Townsend. Dressed up as Sprinkler the Dalmatian, he'll travel alone throughout small communities, adding each province's flag to his truck as he passes through.The tour, which he calls The Dawning of a Dream, will begin May 30 in Port Mellon and end Oct. 30 in Nova Scotia. He plans to splash his wheels with water from both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.He strongly supports volunteer firefighting and will be teaching children and adults to be more fire conscious.His book is the first in a series of five. The second book is in the works and he says it should be out by next year. Each edition will track the phases in the life of the fire truck, which was built in the 1940s.In his fourth book, Lil' Red will return to look for his friends, including Lari the Ladder, a character dedicated to Townsend's late friend from his writing group, Blue Pencil.Townsend, originally from the Maritimes, has lived on the Coast for 30 years where he does seminars for kindergarten classes on fire safety."I hope to teach everybody how to bark, give me a high paw and smile," he quoted from the back of his book.He will kick off the tour with a wheel splashing May 30 at 4 p.m. in "Dog Patch" in Port Mellon.
