Make wishtv.com your home page

7-year-old girl writes adorable letter thanking Westfield firefighters

WESTFIELD, Ind. (WISH) — An elementary school student wrote a letter thanking Westfield firefighters after she learned about fire safety at school.

Aili and her family live down the street from a Westfield fire station. She said she wanted to do something special for the firefighters.

She wrote a letter to firefighters at Westfield Fire Station 81 hoping for a response — and she got it.

The 7-year-old is very soft-spoken. She said she loves to draw and play with her friends.

“Dear the fire station, thank you for putting out fires and getting cats out of trees,” she read from her letter.

Aili said she wanted them to know that she supports the firefighters and so much more.

“What are the other things that you do? Do you have a dalmatian? What can I do to be a firefighter?” she asked in the letter.

The first grader had just learned about the importance of fire safety and awareness at school. She took those lessons home.

“We learned that we should duck under the smoke so you don’t breath it and we learned that you should always have a grown up to test your smoke alarms,” she said. “You should have a fire safety plan in case you all get separated from each other.”

Westfield Fire Chief Joseph Lyons said he got the unexpected letter last week. He said fire crews don’t see things like this too often.

“Not real often, so it was pretty special. It was nice to receive something like that,” Lyons said.

He knew he had to respond by showing up to her house. He thanked her and even answered some of her questions.

“She had asked what we did besides save cats so I told her that we don’t save too many cats,” said Lyons. “I did tell her about a horse rescue we did not too long ago.”

Living in a world where there is good and bad, the chief says the appreciation means a lot.

“It’s a real good experience when you get to do something positive and see that you’re actually reaching the public,” Lyons added.

Aili said she was really happy when the chief gave her a badge and a pink fire hat.

Firefighters are reminding parents to talk to their kids about fire safety and to have an emergency plan in place.