Cape Town - Sandiswa Mhlakaza, a firefighter since the age of 19, had not imagined that one day she would be fighting fires internationally.
The 29-year-old mother of one, a crew leader Type 2 stationed at the Plettenberg Bay Working on Fire (WoF) Crags Base, from Langa, was one of over 200 firefighters and management personnel who returned home on Monday, following their deployment to put out raging wildfires in the province of Alberta in Canada.
The deployment was a third for Mhlakaza to Canada, joining among 62 women firefighters deployed in the mission at the end of July.
Last year, she had been deployed twice with Mzanzi1 and Mzanzi3.
There were 34 firefighters from the Western Cape in the deployment, which lasted 34 days.
While returning to the Western Cape by bus, Mhlakaza described the opportunity as a dream come true after her application to join her colleagues in Canada was successful.
“The most important thing that stood out was safety. During the briefing we got prior to the actual deployment, our main objective was safety, safety and safety. And so it was for the Canadians as well. Each morning before going onto the fire line, we had a safety briefing and a main safety message for the day. And we returned without any major injury.”
After having completed high school, she went on to study Hospitality but was not able to complete the course due to financial challenges.
She was then able to join the WoF programme in October 2014, and was trained as a wildland firefighter at the Crags Base.
“I came across an advert of Working on Fire saying that they were recruiting and I went and was successful and I never looked back.
“Working on Fire played a huge role in my life because I can provide for my family, before I couldn’t,” said Mhlakaza.
WoF is an Expanded Public Works programme of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, launched in September 2003.
It is aimed at providing work opportunities to young persons.
The deployment marked the sixth of its kind since 2015.
Cape Argus