Ofentse Marope was one of 20 firefighters from the North-West who were deployed in Manitoba, Canada since August.
According to Maria Letsholo, spokesperson for Working on Fire (WOF) in Potchefstroom, they were part of a group of 109 firefighters and management from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environments’ WOF who were recruited from all the provinces. “They left South Africa on 10 August and at the time of their arrival in Winnipeg, Canada was experiencing high fire dangers. Canada’s available wildland fire management resources were exhausted and needed assistance. Their request came through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) in terms of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Canada and South Africa. This MOU provides for the exchange of Wildland Fire Management Resources between these two countries. This is Working on Fire’s 4th deployment to Canada”, says Letsholo.
They all returned safely to South Africa last Thursday (16 September) and received a warm welcome from all their colleagues in Potchefstroom. According to them, they have learnt that the way South Africans fight fires is completely different from the way the Canadians fight theirs. “In Canada, we have camped near the fire line to respond to the fire effectively as their fires last for days. We were also not used to the cold weather, but it still was a great experience”, says Nicholas Mabiletsa, crew leader Type 1 from the North-West Naledi Base.
