South African firefighters return home after completing mission in Canada
The fourth group of South African firefighters, consisting of 215 members of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment’s Working on Fire Programme, returned to South Africa yesterday following their successful deployment to the Province of British Columbia, Canada, where they played a vital role in firefighting efforts against wildfires during the past month.
“Our firefighters were deployed to British Columbia on 25 August as part of a larger contingent of 860 South African firefighters and management,” says Amanda Mthembu of Working on Fire – Kishugu JV.
“They provided assistance to Canadian firefighting authorities in Alberta, Northwest Territories, and British Columbia since the beginning of June 2023.”
Canada is experiencing one of the most severe wildfire seasons in history, and has recorded more than 6 330 fires this year, resulting in the destruction of over 17 million hectares of land.
“The deployment of South African wildland firefighters to Canada was a response to a request for assistance from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, based on the existing memorandum of understanding signed between Canada and South Africa in 2019, which allows for the exchange of wildland fire management resources between the two countries,” Mthembu said.











