Tacoma Public School

I am really glad that I live in Tacoma. Everywhere you look, people are smiling. I used to live in Penrith. When I was three, we moved up here to escape the terrible violence in Penrith. There were a lot of houses where we used to live. There were no beautiful rivers like up here. Mum said if we still lived in Penrith we would have to go everywhere with her, but because we moved up here, we can go off by ourselves.

On the 23/12/90 bushfires struck Tacoma. We believe the fires started in South Tacoma and due to the winds, the fire jumped the river. The fire burnt everything that was in its way. Some trees are still black from the fires. I can remember when the fires hit our street, mum gave some lollies to Bradley and me. She told us to sit there and eat them while they wet our roof.

On the 4/2/90 floods hit Tacoma. We had a bushfire and a flood in one year. The water seemed to rise rapidly. We put on our gum boots and went for a walk in the water. It's really boring when you are walking on land, but when you're walking in the water, it's so much more fun.