WOF’s heroes help to fight fires in Canada
The government-funded programme, Working on Fire (WOF), has deployed a team of 200 firefighters and 15 management personnel to the Canadian province of Alberta to lend a helping hand with firefighting and suppression efforts after recording more than 500 wild fires.
From Limpopo, a total of 27 firefighters, and the ground operations manager, Sello Kobe, formed part of the deployment. Four of these firefighters, Kgaugelo Mpuru, Thabiso Thede, Emerence Machubeng, and Silas Motebejane are from Sekororo in the Maruleng municipal area.
The crew leader for WOF Sekororo, Mpuru, said he is excited about being part of the deployment and is looking forward to saving lives and protecting the environment. “I hope to gain experience in using different tools to fight fires as this is my first deployment,” he added. The 200 firefighters and 15 managers departed for Canada on a chartered flight from the Kruger International Airport on Saturday, June 3.
Also read: Firefighters graduate before fire season
This deployment will see the team assist firefighters in Canada for 35 days. “The team comprises pump-trained firefighters who have valid yellow cards; have more than three years of actual firefighting experience and are physically fit. A quarter of the selected firefighters are women.
“This includes two members of the management team and highlights WOF’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. A number of the team members have previous international firefighting experience, which further enhances their expertise in tackling complex fire situations,” said Ofentse Letswala, Limpopo spokesperson for WOF.
