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- More than 100 South African firefighters are being deployed to assist with wildfires in Canada.
- The deployment forms part of an agreement between the two countries.
- Hot and dry temperatures have increased the danger of wildfires in Canada.
More than 100 local firefights are being sent to Canada to help with wildfire control after the country registered record high temperatures.
The record-breaking heat and associated dry weather, and large wildland fires are currently burning in Manitoba. Other provinces also face the threat of wildfires, following a drier than average spring across much of western Canada.
The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment's Working on Fire (WOF) is deploying 109 firefighters and management to Manitoba on Tuesday. Out of the selected firefighters, 30 are women. The firefighters will be deployed for 34 days.
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The request for assistance came from the Canadian Inter-agency Forest Fire Centre, which has, in terms of a Memorandum of Understanding between Canada and South Africa, asked for firefighting assistance from Working on Fire to assist with its fire management in Canada.
This is the fourth deployment of firefighters to Canada. The last deployment was in June 2019, when WOF sent 40 firefighters to assist with the Chuckegg Creek fire that ignited on 12 May 2019 and had burnt more than 350 134 hectares and destroyed seven homes.
"As with previous deployments, we want to reassure our partners and stakeholders that this deployment will in no way have an impact on our current firefighting resources in South Africa, where the Working on Fire programme is able to call on close to 5 000 firefighters spread throughout the country," said Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Barbara Creecy.
