You’ve seen the signs over the freeways here, 'Thank you fire-fighters'. But at this school which is 6000 miles away, just outside Manchester in the North of England, these 10 and 11 year-olds are writing their own letters to first responders, after being moved by images of them tackling the wildfires that ravaged the Pacific Palisades and Altadena earlier this month.
"The letters that they've written show an understanding of what the firefighters have done for everybody and how they've made sacrifices from their own families as well. And I think that's important," said their teacher, Jo Price.
Price says that this is an opportunity for these young students at High Legh Primary School to ask questions, have empathy and gratitude and discuss values.
"One of the little boys said that he wants to be a firefighter. And I just think it's really lovely that they think about how much other people have helped and that there are people that have lost everything and are still just willing to go and help other people who are worse off than they are," said Price.
There’s no danger of brush fires on that scale in Manchester. There’s no shortage of rain—in fact, it rains in Manchester on average for 152 days of the year, around 34.5 inches per year. By contrast, the average rainfall in Thousand Oaks is around half that—16.3 inches—and averages just 34 days rainfall a year. But, says Price, this is an opportunity to discuss the impacts of climate change in the world they’re growing up in.
"They understand all about it, and it's about their impact upon the world and their footprint that they leave upon the world, and what we can do in order to make a small change to that. And if that inspires one child to do something good, then that's it! Job done for me," said Price.
"I think they're quite removed from having fires happen over here in the UK. They quite understand the floods and we had a family who had a flood. They lost everything," she said.
"It's just about being there and answering their questions as open and honestly as you can and then having that open communication with parents at home for them to follow up on it and providing support where we can," said Price.
10-year-old student Scarlett says it made her sad to think about the kids who lost their prized possessions.
"The firefighters are risking their lives to help others. But it made me feel a bit sad because all those kids," she said.
11-year-old Amelia said, "It made me think quite a lot about how the climate change over the past few years."
And 11-year-old Harrison said, "I wanted to make sure that the firefighters knew that they were really appreciated and that what they're doing is really good and that they work really hard."
The letters won’t remain in Manchester, they’re going to be delivered to the fire-fighters in the Tri-Counties who have been on the front line this month.
