Selected Reading Materials: Accidents - Fire (Advanced)
This reference material is suitable for Primary 4 - 6 - Aspiring & Advanced Writers
My pupils often had difficulty writing stories about a fire and events related to it.
I hope this short story can help some pupils build up the knowledge and introduce advanced vocabulary for writing about a blazing inferno. The content can be adapted to be used on topics which might lead up to fire e.g a car accident. |
Fighting a Fire
Mr Jones liked his house and he was mighty proud of having built it from scratch. It took him almost two years to complete it. From every plank, every board, every nail to every single rivet and bolt, Mr Jones secured and tightened every one of them himself. It was no wonder that when he heard about the bush fire alert over the radio that summer, he was unwilling to budge. Mr Jones was determined to stay and declare war on the raging fire. He was not about to let anything come between his lovely house and himself. Unfortunately, the days grew hotter and the winds fiercer, fanning the smoulder from earlier fires every which way. When the swirls of looming danger began to thicken, Mr Jones prepared himself for battle. He put on his heavy woollen jackets, leather gloves, thick socks and boots and a paper mask and started up the engine of his automatic water hose. He knew the contraption would last him for hours, even if the power supply was cut off, as it got its fuel from the back-up generator in his garden shed. Minutes after he was ready, he saw the first flames leaping across treetops a distance away. It all happened so quickly as the wind roared to life again. Livestock howled and a house across the road exploded into flames. Mr Jones began hosing his home and everything within his reach. He was confident and certain that he was winning until the flames beggared belief and catapulted through the air from the other side of the meadow next to his house. The flames raged on, devouring everything in its way like it was part of a tornado, taking on every object, living or non-living. Mr Jones hurriedly started hosing the area nearest the fire only to turn back seconds later to see that it had alighted again. It was then that he began to feel his confidence waver. Moments later, another house across the street exploded and fist-sized embers rained down from the dark-red sky. Mr Jones felt his first jolt of anxiety when one of the debris plummeted from high above and deposited itself right next to his shed, in a tangled mass of metal and flames. He quickly hose the flames down and resumed his battle. Whenever Mr Jones felt a rush of extreme heat scuttling towards him, he would turn his back, held the hose at full blast over his shoulder and hoped for the best. He kept moving, chasing fires in every possible direction. Then, he saw his tree house erupt into flames while another explosion pierced through the air. Mr Jones stared in horror as he witnessed his neighbour's tin roof lift off and hovered like a piece of paper being toyed with by a playful breath. For the first time, he regretted the foolish passion he felt for his house. The fire was not what he had expected. By then, exhaustion had began to overpower Mr Jones. He could barely see through the smoky gloom and he was having difficulty breathing. The flimsy paper mask he had worn earlier merely stuck uncomfortably onto his sweaty cheeks. He tore it off miserably and tossed it, mockingly, back into the flames. The fire had devoured his generator and water no longer dripped from the hose on his shoulder. He hobbled into his house and grabbed the pails of water he had saved for the final confrontation. He tossed the water frantically on himself and everything around him. When steam sizzled off his electric stove, Mr Jones felt his knees turn to jelly. He knew then that retreat was imminent if he wanted to live. Choking dark smoke saturated the air. He could not see anything. In his desperate attempt to escape, he lost balance and fell onto the ground. He garnered all the strength he had left and began to crawl. For the first time, he smelled the burnt wool on his jacket and he felt his back sting. Mr Jones began to feel himself fade in and out of consciousness. His mind was a blank and his limbs only moved out of instinct, mechanically. His last memory of the ordeal was the sensation of grass and pebbles brushing against his body. Then, the soothing slather of cool mud and finally, sinking into a cold body of water. When the fire-fighters arrived, they noticed a man floating in the pond next to the cinders. At first, they thought he was dead. Disbelief plastered the rescuers' faces when they felt a weak pulse. Mr Jones was immediately air-lifted to the nearest hospital. How he managed to survive the towering inferno was a mystery to all. However, Mr Jones believed that despite being semi-unconscious, his sheer determination to live led him instinctively to the pond. While the landscape around him was being tortured by explosions and burning embers, the wool jackets trapped enough air to keep him afloat and prevented him from drowning. Amazingly, Mr Jones managed to escape with (only) minor burns on his body and respiratory and eye injuries. Although he was physically weaker after the incident, he was grateful that he was still, miraculously, alive. This short story was inspired by, 'Out of the Fire', James Knight, Reader's Digest, August 2009, Singapore Edition.
Limited adaptation only. Pay attention to the underlined word and phrases. Look up the meaning of any unfamiliar terms or words.
I hope the passage will prove to be useful to some of you! |