A crew of 48 South African firefighters battling wildfires in Canada continues to fly the flag high.

They are part of international wild land firefighting teams battling multiple fires in Alberta.

But while they are containing fires, the South African crew has impressed on another level too – their song and dance and teamwork has now been adopted by their Canadian counterparts.

The team, made up of participants from the South African Working on Fire programme, have been in the country since July 21 as part of a resource sharing arrangement between Canadian firefighting agencies and South Africa.

They have been hailed for their impressive work ethic, and as a team that always remained upbeat. The team also garnered respect for their physical fitness levels, productivity, as well as health and safety standards.

Working on Fire spokesperson Linton Rensburg said the team had originally been deployed to Edmonton.

“From there, they were dispatched to assist with the suppression of wildland fires in the surrounding forestry areas. Whilst most of these fires have largely been contained, these crews have been busy with mopping up operations and one crew has started a second stint in Alberta. The second crew has been deployed to assist in the British Columbia region in Canada,” he said.

Working on Fire managing director Llewellyn Pillay said the team had made quite an impression.

“Our upbeat and always happy South African crews with their song and dance have been well received in Canada and they have set positive examples to the local and international crews on how to build strong morale and teamwork.

“These local and international crews have begun to mimic this and are also, like the South Africans, now also attending team meetings instead of being scattered resources as in the past.” News24