More than 200 South African firefighters are expected to travel to Canada where they will join other emergency services in battling the blazes currently wreaking havoc in the province of Alberta. Of the group, 27 firefighters are from the Limpopo province.
This will be the sixth deployment by a Working on Fire team to Canada. Between 2015 and 2023, Working on Fire has been on five deployments to Canada, based on a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the countries.
“These five deployments include the historic deployment of 860 firefighters and management in 2023, which was one of the largest deployments of international firefighters to Canada," said Working on Fire - Kishugu Joint Venture stakeholder relations manager, Linton Rensburg.
He said the deployment lists have been finalised and both staff and management assembled at the Kishugu Training Academy in Mpumalanga where they underwent a three-day training camp ahead of their departure.
"Our firefighters and management will depart for Alberta, Canada via a charter arranged by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) on Friday from the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport in Mbombela. The deployment of our firefighters and management is expected to be deployed in Alberta for a period of 39 days, inclusive of travelling and rest days," Rensburg said.
Extending his best wishes to the team, Rensburg reminded them to raise the South African flag and share their expertise and camaraderie with colleagues from other Canadian provinces and countries.
"The request for urgent assistance came from CIFFC in terms of the existing MoU between Canada and South Africa. The MoU signed in 2019, provides for the exchange of wild land fire management resources between South Africa and Canada. It was put in place following two earlier deployments to Canada to suppress wild land fires in Alberta and Manitoba," Rensburg explained.
The 2024 Canadian deployment team comprises pump trained firefighters, who have a valid Yellow Card; more than three years actual firefighting experience and who are physically fit.
"Thirty percent of the selected firefighters in the first deployment are women. This includes three members of the management team and highlights Working on Fire’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. A number of the team members have previous international firefighting experience, which further enhances the expertise in tackling complex fire situations.
"We are proud of the fact that South Africa is again able to assist Canadian firefighting teams in their battle to bring the wildfires under control. The extensive experience and training of these firefighters will significantly enhance efforts to effectively suppress and manage the wildfires in Alberta.
"We wish to reassure all our partners and stakeholders that this deployment will not have any impact on our South African firefighting operations and every one of our 200-plus firefighting bases in South Africa will continue to provide firefighting and fire prevention services to our partners and landowners. We will still have just over 5,000 firefighters available at these bases throughout South Africa," Rensburg added.
He said in the event of a major fire during South Africa's winter fire season, teams from the Western Cape and Eastern Cape will be deployed to hotspot areas.
"This request from CIFFC is a vote of confidence in our wild land firefighting capacity and abilities in South Africa and we must be extremely proud of our deployees who have been selected. For many of them, this will be a life-changing experience and it all forms part of our objectives in developing our youth and creating opportunities for them to learn and experience new territories beyond our borders," he said.
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