GREEN BAY, Wis. — For a few minutes on a Wednesday afternoon Lt. Shauna Walesh was all about “Interstellar Cinderella.”

Holding the book up, she read into a cellphone mounted on a tripod, broadcasting the story live to Facebook. The reading is part of a weekly program, Storytime (CQ) with a Firefighter. 

It started as a way to provide fire education during Fire Prevention Week last fall when many kids were at home. But the idea took on its own momentum, and became something both Waelsh and her audience look forward to.

“I really enjoy night time at our house reading to my daughter,” said Walesh, the department’s public information officer. “She’s really young, she’s not even a year old yet, but it’s kind of a nice bonding thing and I thought I would bring to a little bit of a bigger stage.”

In the past few months she’s had help from the Brown County Public Library which is providing books, as well as from one of her co-workers.

Capt. Glen Sherman — who has grown children —  took over story time duties for one week.

“It’s something I haven’t done for a long, long time, read books to kids,” he said. “It was great to get an opportunity to do something that was out of the ordinary for our job.”

Sherman said he’d consider doing again.

There are potential pitfalls that come with reading a book from a fire house: emergency tones over the PA system and the occasional fire call, to name a few. 

But most weeks go smoothly.

“As long as I can bring a smile to one person a week, that’s all that matters,” Walesh said. 

Storytime with a Firefighter can be found on the Green Bay Metro Fire Department Facebook page at 1 p.m. on Wednesdays.