About three hours away from where the Camp Fire is burning in Butte County, a thick layer of smoke has covered Tracy and other surrounding towns in the Central Valley.
By this time, children have noticed the smoke, they're talking about it with their classmates and some have already seen horrifying images of structures burning on TV or social media. Mental health experts say when it comes time to talk to your kids about what's going on with these fires, it's important help your children feel informed about the facts of what’s going on.
“Just being open because children just want to feel like they can talk to their parents about these sensitive topics," Molly Long, coordinator of prevention services for the Tracy Unified School District said.
Long says it's important to answer any questions they may have and make sure that they feel emotionally supported in how they’re feeling about it.
“It is important to kind of keep your kids in the know as much as you can without dramatizing the language that you use to inform them," Long said. "So let them know that you’ve heard that there’s a fire but it’s not very close to where they’re living and that’s creating smoke in the air but you really don’t have to take it much further than that."
As far as addressing numbers like the death toll, which was at 48 people as of Tuesday night, she says it usually depends on the child.
“I think that kids really want to know what’s going on and they want to feel like, when they have questions that you’re going to answer them," Long said.
She says it may help your child to gain a better sense of control of the situation by doing some disaster preparedness planning at home or getting involved with recovery efforts.
"So even if it’s lets send some coats or shoes that you’ve grown out of to the recovery effort where the fires are, that helps that feel more engaged in problem solving which makes you feel less hopeless and helpless," Long said.