Page 8 - My Home on the Earth

the emergency exits and go to their designated assembly points on the adjacent sports field to await further instruction. Hundreds of students filed out from every floor. Milling around, they waited and listened to wailing sirens coming closer, and cheered when two Fire and Rescue vehicles lumbered through the school gates. The Facilities Manager directed them to the plant room at the rear of the school where they found two bales of cardboard smouldering after a blowback in the boiler and a pilot light failure.
An evacuation announcement triggered cheers from groups of older students and disapproving frowns from the teachers. They faced a mammoth task to ensure everyone could get home safely, although some had left their bags, clothing, and mobile phones inside the building. Within seconds, admin staff had sent automatic emails, tweets, and text messages to parents and guardians, and children with mobiles were ringing home.
In a fit of panic, thirteen-year-old Cara Maitland telephoned her mum at work and told her what had happened. ‘I’m sorry, love. I can’t leave the surgery without reception cover. Try Grandma. She won’t mind picking you up,’ said Kay Maitland. Cara wanted to leave there and then, otherwise, she and her eleven-year-old cousin, Elise Goodwin, had to wait until four o’clock for her mum to finish work at the Medical Centre.
‘I can’t come straight away,’ shrieked Alice when she answered. ‘I’m sitting in the hairdresser’s having my hair coloured. It’ll take at least an hour. Are you unwell?’
‘No! There was a big bang at school, like an explosion
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