More than 200 firefighters from the Working on Fire programme will travel to Alberta, Canada, this weekend to assist with firefighting and fire suppression efforts.

This will be the fifth deployment by a Working on Fire team to Canada.

Canada has requested for urgent help in terms of an existing memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Canada and South Africa.

“Alberta has already experienced more than 550 wildfires this season resulting in significant damage to property and infrastructure, and displacing thousands of people. Evacuation orders have been put in place in many areas,” reads a statement released by Working On Fire.

The MOU, which was signed in 2019, provides for the exchange of wildland fire management resources between the two countries. It was put in place following two earlier deployments to Canada to suppress wild fires in Alberta and Manitoba.

The first deployment of 200 firefighters and 15 managers will depart for Canada on a chartered aircraft from Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIA) tomorrow.

They will be in Canada for 35 days. A second team of 200 firefighters and 13 managers will join the crew in Alberta in a week’s time.

“The 2023 Canadian deployment team comprises pump-trained firefighters, who have a valid Yellow Card, more than three years actual firefighting experience, and who are physically fit. A quarter of the selected firefighters in the first deployment is women. This includes two members of the management team.”

A number of the team members have previous international firefighting experience, which further enhances the expertise in tackling complex fire situations.

“We are proud of the fact that South Africa is again able to assist Canadian firefighting teams in their battle to bring the wildfires under control. The extensive experience and training of these firefighters will significantly enhance efforts to effectively suppress and manage the wildfires in Alberta,” national environmental affairs minister Barbara Creecy.