Firefighter grateful for Canada experience
This was the second time he was deployed to Canada to fight fires and gain valuable experience

The love he had for nature from a young age was the key in Sithembiso Sithole’s choice of career.
The 30-year-old Bergville crew leader (type 1) from KwaVimbukhalo was part of the fourth group of South African firefighters to return to South Africa following their successful deployment to the Province of British Columbia in Canada, where they played a vital role in firefighting efforts against wildfires during the past month.
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Sithole was one of 215 members from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries & the Environment’s Working On Fire (WOF) programme.
He completed his matric at Mthende Secondary School and joined WOF in 2011. His hard-working attitude saw him ‘climbing the ladder’ quickly within the organisation in the past 12 years since he started.
“In 2014 and 2015, I worked as a structural firefighter. On July 23, 2015, I returned as a veld and forest firefighter and continued working as a crew leader type 2. In August 2019, I completed my crew leader type 1 training and was recently promoted to a probationary base manager,” said Sithole.
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