The fire fighters sent to Canada to help control a wildfire returned to South Africa in the early hours of the morning on Tuesday‚ Working with Fire said.
Working with Fire will be holding a meeting with the Department of Environment Affairs on Tuesday for a debriefing on what transpired in Canada.
The South African fire fighters attracted international headlines when they downed hoses after a pay dispute whilst deployed to assist in fighting a wildfire in Alberta last week.
A management team was dispatched from Working with Fire to quell the unrest and ensure the safe return of the fire fighters.
“Following successful discussions‚ between the fire fighters and the high-level Working on Fire team that we had dispatched to Canada‚ they have agreed to their demobilisation and to return back home to South Africa‚” said Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa.
A statement by the minister on Monday said that the negotiations were aimed at encouraging the team of 301 fire fighters to complete their deployment‚ or ensure they returned home safely if the weather was poor.
“The mediation regarding continuation of the suppression of fire was no longer necessary owing to weather conditions in both Fort McMurray and Edmonton where it has been raining heavily‚ and therefore meaning that the number of international fire fighters from other countries had to return home‚” said the statement.
“We remain immensely proud of our well-trained fire fighters who have done excellent work over a number of years‚ which has been recognised by the international fire fighting community‚” said Molewa.
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