東京の小学校で火事、けが人はなし

20日かの朝あさ、東京とうきょうにある小学校しょうがっこうで火事かじがありました。火事かじは理科りかの部屋へやから出でました。先生せんせいと子こどもたちは、すぐに外そとへ逃にげました。だから、けがをした人ひとはいませんでした。消防車しょうぼうしゃがたくさん来きて、火ひは1時間じかんぐらいで消きえました。警察けいさつと消防署しょうぼうしょの人ひとが、どうして火事かじになったのかを調しらべています。この日ひは、学校がっこうが休やすみになりました。近ちかくに住すんでいる人ひとは「黒くろい煙けむりが見みえて、とてもびっくりしました」と言いっていました。

On the morning of the 20th, a fire broke out at an elementary school in Tokyo. The fire started from the science classroom. The teachers and children quickly escaped outside. Because of this, no one was injured. Many fire trucks arrived, and the fire was put out in about one hour. Police and fire department officials are investigating the cause of the fire. That day, the school was closed. A nearby resident said, 'I saw black smoke and was very shocked.'

Vた + N= noun modified by a past-tense verb (relative clause); e.g. けがをした人 — the person who got injuredN + になりました= became N; marks a change of state; e.g. 休みになりました — became a day offVている + N= noun modified by an ongoing-action verb (relative clause); e.g. 住んでいる人 — a person who lives there「〜」とVていました= was saying '~'; standard news phrasing for reporting what someone said

Learning Notes

Grammar Patterns

Pattern	Meaning
Vた + N	noun modified by a past-tense verb (relative clause); e.g. けがをした人 — the person who got injured
N + になりました	became N; marks a change of state; e.g. 休みになりました — became a day off
Vている + N	noun modified by an ongoing-action verb (relative clause); e.g. 住んでいる人 — a person who lives there
「〜」とVていました	was saying '~'; standard news phrasing for reporting what someone said

Vocabulary

Word	Reading	Level	Meaning
火事	かじ	N4	fire (incident)
けが	けが	N4	injury
消防車	しょうぼうしゃ	N3	fire truck
消防署	しょうぼうしょ	N3	fire station
煙	けむり	N3	smoke

Language Insights

•消防車 (fire truck) and 消防署 (fire station) share the prefix 消防, meaning 'firefighting.' The truck is the vehicle; the署 is the organization/building. In Japan, both police (警察) and fire departments (消防署) typically investigate fire causes together.
•理科の部屋 means the science classroom. Because 理科 classes use chemicals and equipment, the room is also commonly called 理科室 (りかしつ). Science rooms are a known fire risk in Japanese schools.
•「〜と言っていました」 is the standard phrasing in Japanese news for reporting witness statements. The past progressive form (言っていました vs. 言いました) adds a slight softening, treating the quote as recalled speech rather than direct record.
•びっくりする is informal but extremely common across all registers — conversation, social media, and witness quotes in news alike. Recognizing it early helps with listening comprehension.