#ymmfire burned across 423,000 hectares, that's 4230 sq km - context: more than 1/10 size of Nfld #yeg #ymmfire
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
|
The first thing the 281 South African firefighters did when they touched down in Edmonton was sing.
They sang soldier songs — songs of South Africa — while the large crowd gathered there to welcome them cheered.
- Suncor Energy resumes operations near Fort McMurray after mandatory evacuation lifted
- Fort McMurray re-entry dependent upon last-minute safety review
Khomt Alucie, one of the firefighters who made the journey, said the group has only known each other for a day and singing is how they bond.
"It gives us moral courage, it gives us teamwork," she said. "If we become tired in the fire we sing.
"It's not something you practice, it's in the soul."
Play Media
RAW: South African firefighters sing and dance at the airport2:50
A man who worked in Anzac, a town once evacuated by the fire, personally thanked each one as they walked through the arrival gates.
"Welcome to Canada, thank you so much," he said, in his other hand he held a Canadian flag tied to a hockey stick.
Alberta's fire information officer Travis Fairweather said earlier the firefighters represented many regions of South Africa.
"They do that to make sure they maintain even balance so they don't take too many out of one area and leave them too depleted on resources," said Fairweather.
The officers are in Alberta for a standard deployment of 14 days, with the possibility of an extension.
Canada is part of a program with several other countries run by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC).
CIFFC co-ordinates requests for assistance from provinces that have exceeded their internal firefighting capacity.
