Under a scorching sun, 200 South African firefighters wrapped up a last round of training on Tuesday before flying out to help Canada battle unprecedented forest blazes there.
They are a second batch of fighters flying out to the North American nation where nearly 17,800 square miles of forest have burned since the beginning of the year, well above previous averages, amid climate change.
The deployment is in response to “an urgent request” from the Canadian forest fire agency, according to South Africa’s Ministry of Forest and Environmental Affairs. Canada and South Africa 2019 signed a memorandum of understanding “to assist each other in case of emergency regarding veld and forest fires,” Peter van de Merwe, a forestry scientist who will be leading the group, told AFP in the eastern city of Mbombela, where the team has been preparing for its mission overseas.The firefighters are from ‘Working on Fire’, an organisation funded by the country’s environmental ministry that recruits and trains unemployed people aged between 18 and 35.
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