A Blanket of Smoke

Our school was covered in a thick blanket of smoke today.

Bush fires are burning not far from where we learn. Some of our teachers stayed at home today to protect their properties and animals. Some of Val's cattle died in a fire last night.

The CFA have been working hard to put out fires all over Victoria. Lots of houses have burned down and more than 100 people have died.

There is a blue sky above that grey smoke we just can't see it! There is a big hill at the back of the picture with the basket ball court on it. You can't even see that. The smoke smells horrible. We have to stay inside and play because kids with asthma can't breathe properly.

The grass around here is really brown because we have had a heat wave. and a drought. It has been over 40 degrees Celsius for a couple of weeks. The grass is like that everywhere around here. That is why the fires are burning so well.

We know what to do if there is a fire at our school because we have a fire safety plan and we have been practising our safety drills. We know where all our safe meeting places are and how to get to them. We know how to crawl on our knees if the smoke gets to thick and how to stop, drop and roll if our clothes catch on fire. We know we are safe and the teachers will look after us if there is a fire at school.