Firefighters welcomed back from Canadian fires

Gallery Video

GEORGE NEWS & VIDEO - Ten Western Cape firefighters of Working on Fire, who were deployed to Canada to assist authorities with wildland firefighting efforts, have landed in George earlier tonight. The cold and wet weather could not dampen their spirits.

A welcoming party waited patiently for the Johannesburg flight to land on George soil. Armed with a flag, yellow uniform and plenty of festiveness, fellow firefighters were glad to have their colleagues back.

The group of ten formed part of 109 firefighters and management from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environments’ Working on Fire programme, who were deployed to the province of Manitoba in Canada.

These firefighters and management left South Africa on 10 August and at the time of their arrival in Winnipeg, Canada were experiencing high fire dangers. The available wildland fire management resources within the country were exhausted and they were on their highest level, National Preparedness Level 5.These firefighters and management left South Africa on 10 August and at the time of their arrival in Winnipeg, Canada were experiencing high fire dangers.

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In welcoming home the South African firefighters earlier this morning at OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy praised them for their professionalism and high-performance standards expressed by Canadian authorities: “[this] is indicative of the success of the Working on Fire programme and its capabilities in Integrated Fire Management over the past 18 years. The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, the Expanded Public Works Programme and indeed South Africa shares in this proud moment with all of you and welcome back home.”

Creecy said this was by far one of the most successful international deployments and indeed a huge vote of confidence in the South African government’s Expanded Public Works Programme, Working on Fire.

The 109 South African firefighters and management consisted of 5 divisions of 21 crew members, each crew under the leadership of a Strike Team Leader (STLD), 2 Agency Representatives (AREPS) who had overall command of these crews, 1 Covid Coordinator and 1 International Agency Resource Representative (IARR) who was the overall team leader in Canada.

Of these firefighters 28 were women and 35 team members had previous deployment to Canada.

Photo gallery: Working on Fire staff from Canada welcomed home

This request for assistance came through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) in terms of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Canada and South Africa. The MOU provides for the exchange of Wildland Fire Management Resources between these two countries. This is Working on Fire’s 4th deployment to Canada (2015, 2016 & 2019).

As part of the Memorandum of Understanding between South Africa and Canada, the South African firefighters were remunerated at the same rate as their Canadian counterparts and those deployed from other countries.

Photos: Michelle PIenaar