Fighting fires, improving lives
The Working on Fire (WOF) programme, funded by the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF), celebrated 17 years of existence during an event at Canary Walk Mall last week.
Over these past years, WOF has grown from just 850 veld and forest firefighters to a globally renowned programme employing more than 5 000 people.
Unemployed young people are recruited from disadvantaged communities into the programme, going a long way to creating opportunities for South African youth.
During September, WOF will focus on a campaign to highlight and showcase these past 17 years, with the theme being “17 Years of Successful Partnerships”.
These partnerships include WOF’s long-standing partnerships with DEFF, national and local government entities, public and private landowners, and fire protection associations such as Lowveld Escarpment and Fire Protection Association.
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Kishugu, an organisation with over 30 years’ of experience protecting, preventing and suppressing wildfire, has for the past 15 years successfully implemented the WOF programme and is a valued partner of it. There are many highlights along WOF’s 17-year growth path, with the many critical interventions in major disaster fires, such as the Knysna fires in 2017, the George fires in 2018, and the Cape Town Table Mountain fire in 2015. In addition, Working on Fire has had successful deployments of firefighters and management to Canada, Indonesia and Chile.
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