Working on Fire apologises to Canada over strike by SA firefighters

Working on Fire has apologised to the Canadian government and people for any inconvenience a strike by 300 South African firefighters dispatched to the North American country to help fight a massive bushfire might have caused.

The firefighters, deployed to the country by Working on Fire, which is one of the projects of the government's flagship Expanded Public works programme, have reportedly downed their hoses over a pay dispute.

In a statement posted on its website on Saturday, Working on Fire said it had successfully completed numerous international deployments in the past.

“We always agree on remuneration with our firefighters when going on deployments of this nature and, as in this instance, formal contracts were signed,” it stated.

“To have a dispute about remuneration, and to be accused of being unfair towards our people, is in direct contradiction of our company values,” it added.

Saying it was part of the firefighter ethos to first and foremost deliver an emergency service, it said it was extremely disappointed that it could not resolve the debacle internally before it had escalated to become an international incident.

“For Working on Fire (PTY) Ltd, it has never been about making money.  It has always been about assisting countries (such as Canada) who are facing massive and destructive wildfires.

“We are currently investigating the matter internally and wish to apologise to both the Canadian government and Canadian citizens for any inconvenience this may have caused.

“We wish to ensure the public that we are treating this matter with the utmost importance, and are committed to finding an amicable solution as soon as possible,” the agency said.