My Story of the 2003 Canberra Bushfires

My name is Alice Green and I am 12 years old. I live in Rivett.
On January 18th 2003 at around 10-11am, my Mum, sister and I were on the bus to Phillip swimming and ice skating centre. We heard an announcement on the bus that fires were in Tuggeranong but there were no closures left. My sister got a bit worried but Mum said we'd be in fine in places like Rivett, Chapman and Duffy. It was funny cause just before the bus came Mum said 'Maybe we should go home' but then the bus came so we got on it.
Anyway, we were at the pool and suddenly the sky went very dusty and a fire engine went past the pool. Then the sun dissapered. Next thing we knew, there was an announcement that if you lived in Chapman, Rivett, Duffy or Gordon you should go home Immediately.
Well, seeing as we do not have a car, we had to wait until our Grandmother finished work. She picked us up at 3:30pm. By then, the Duffy gas station had blown up. Last year (2002) I attended Duffy Primary School which is right near the gas station. But this year I am attending Stromlo High School in Waramanga.
As we were driving home, we saw a man's garden alight, who lived on Darwinia Terrace Rivett. My sister and I were petrified seeing as Darwinia terrace is just up the top of our road. When we got home, our Grandfather was at our house hosing down. My Grandparents live in Chapman. We stayed at home after that, hosing down the house.
We got all of our 25 + animals inside, including about 7 birds squished in a cage!! We didnt really see any fire but the really scary part was when the sky went black and the power went out.
I knew 2 of the 4 dead. Doug Fraser and Alison Tener. Both of whom used to live down the road from my family when we lived in Duffy: Burrendong Street. We havent lived there for about 4 - 5 years but we still knew them + we knew Alison's 3 sons. One of whom was in my class.
My sister who is 10 and in Year 5 is attending Duffy Primary still, which over half ((Approx.)) the students have lost their houses. Around 40 students at my school lost their houses. I had what I thought was a horrible experience from the fires but when I got back to school and heard what my friends from Duffy went through, I knew mine was really nothing.

Alice Green 12 years Rivett, CANBERRA