South African firefighters say goodbye with a final performance

"We welcome you in our celebration of who we are," Antoinette Jini, enthusiastically told a small crowd gathered at the Prince George Fire Centre. 

Clad in their notable yellow jackets, hundreds of South African firefighters bid farewell to B.C. on Thursday evening with a celebratory dance, a tribute to their country's Heritage Day which falls on Sept. 24. 

The men and women sang in a cappella, stomped their feet and clapped — performing isicathamiya — a traditional genre of Zulu choral music from South Africa linked to labour migration. 

WATCH | South African farewell:

South African firefighters say farewell to Canada with traditional dance

1 year ago

Duration 2:27

After helping battle wildfires in B.C., crews from South Africa said goodbye with a cultural performance at their camp in Prince George.

The crew of 215 firefighters were deployed on Aug. 23, to help fight the fires in the Vanderhoof-Fort St. James fire zone. They are part of a larger contingent of 860 South African firefighters, who have been providing assistance to Canadian firefighting efforts in Alberta, Northwest Territories and British Columbia since the beginning of June.

To combat the unprecedented wildfire season the province saw this year, the B.C Wildfire Service says 1,617 international personnel have been mobilized. Among them, 1,262 are firefighters, hailing from Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, the United States and several Canadian provinces. The rest were support staff coming from Australia and New Zealand. 

Sharon Nickel, the B.C. Wildfire Service Information Officer, said they played an important role. 

The firefighters typically worked 12-hour shifts, setting up wet lines, which are areas doused with water in an effort to stop the advancement of fire and patrolling for hotspots, and helping with a variety of firefighting efforts.

Khulani Zulu, one of the agency representatives for South Africa's Working on Fire public works programme, said the African nation prepared them for this sort of work.

"We are very proud," Zulu said. "South Africa has trained us and equipped us to be ready for this deployment." 

"The kind of different environments that we are working in, some of them are not the same as back home in South Africa, but some of them are almost the same, hence the reason we're able to easily adjust into any situation that we have come across here." 

Jini, who is a senior agency representative for the public works programme said it's been a very good experience. 

"There are many learnings that we are taking home," Jini said.

Zulu said he was looking forward to seeing his family again, but said the group had mixed emotions.

"We are not fully happy because we know that the fires are still going on, but our cycle ends here," Zulu said. 

With 387 active wildfires continuing to blaze across the province and foreign crews heading home the wildfire service says they are continuing to rely on provincial firefighters.