The incredible South African firefighters will be commended for their work over the last month and be awarded commemorative badges for their heroic efforts!
Alberta, Canada – The Working on Fire team will return to South Africa on Tuesday from the North American country. The team were last in Canada in 2016 where they made global headlines with their incredible work ethic.
Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy and the High Commissioner of Canada in South Africa Sandra McCardell will on Tuesday jointly hold a media briefing to mark their return.
The department said the 45-member team spent almost 30 days at the Province of Alberta in Western Canada assisting in combating the huge Chuckegg fire which had burnt over 340000 hectares by the time they left to return home.
Working on Fire’s vision is to be the leading global integrated fire management agency, making a sustainable difference in the environment and people’s lives. Working on Fire is a government-funded, job-creation programme, focused on implementing Integrated Fire Management in South Africa. They employ more than 5000 young men and women, who are fully trained as wildfire firefighters and are stationed at more than 200 bases across South Africa. Their firefighters are recruited from marginalised communities and trained in fire awareness and education, prevention and fire suppression skills.
“The Working on Fire fire fighters formed part of teams of fire fighters from all over Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Colombia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, Yukon, North West Territories, Mexico and USA combatting the fire which started on the 12th May 2019,” the department said.
The South African Department of Environment, Fisheries and Forestry has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Canadian Department of Natural Resources, in terms of which either country may request urgent support from the other with regards to wildfire management.
The department said the deployment of the fire-fighters at the Province of Alberta in Western Canada further deepens the relations between Canada and South Africa on integrated fire management capacities.
The Programme has an extensive collection of letters of recognition and appreciation from various communities around the globe where Working on Fire teams assisted in saving their lives and property fires. The value of the Programme is further illustrated in the continuous demand for more teams to be opened in communities who are confronted by the threat of unwanted wildland fires.
The arrival time of the Working on Fire fire-fighters is set for 7 am. Once landed and cleared by the customs they will be greeted by the Minister and the High Commissioner of Canada.
Before the joint media briefing, the fire-fighters will receive their deployment commemorative badges and folders from the Minister and the High Commissioner.
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