Rescue mission to Canada won’t leave SA without firefighters, says minister

More than 200 firefighters and management have been sent to Canada to help with devastating wildfires, but authorities have allayed fears it could leave SA short in an emergency.

According to the BBC, fires have ravaged parts of Alberta, including nearly half of the historic town of Jasper and its surrounding national park.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called for global assistance, with SA sending firefighters to help get the blazes under control.

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) confirmed the team left on Sunday for Canada.

How will SA be affected?

Minister Dion George said the deployment would not hamper local firefighting operations.

“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.

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“We will still have just over 5,000 firefighters available at these bases throughout South Africa. Should there be major wildland fire activities in our Winter Fire Season Provinces, we will, as we have done in the past, be able to deploy our Western and Eastern Cape firefighters to these hotspots,” he added.

Here’s how long firefighters will be gone

The SA team is expected to be deployed in Alberta for 39 days.

“The team has since Monday, 22 July 2024, assembled at Kishugu Training Academy in Mbombela, Mpumalanga for a three-day training camp to do final preparation prior to departure.

“These firefighters are part of the department’s Working on Fire programme and are being deployed based on the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between Canada and South Africa. This MOU allows for the exchange of fire management resources between the two countries,” the department said.

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This will be the sixth deployment by a Working on Fire team to Canada since 2015. Last year, SA sent 860 firefighters and management.

This year’s team includes pump-trained firefighters, who have a valid Yellow Card; more than three years of actual firefighting experience and who are physically fit.

25% of those going are women.