South Africans help fight Canada's fires

(5 Jul 2023)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4443094
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Fox Creek, Alberta, Canada - 4 July 2023
1. Various of South African firefighters dancing during a break in their morning meeting
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Thuto Ganya, South African firefighter:
“We’ve met a lot of firefighters, Australian firefighters, Canadian firefighters. It’s really nice to work with them.”
3. South African firefighters run a drill during their morning meeting
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4. SOUNDBITE (English) Thuto Ganya, South African firefighter:
“The fires from Canada, they are totally different from South African fires. Mainly, the underground fires, they are not familiar with us. We are still acclimatizing with all those diggings because in South Africa we normally find the fires on the ground.”
5. Various of South African firefighters attending a safety briefing in preparation for their helicopter transport
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Fort St. John, British Columbia, Canada - 2 July 2023
6. Various of flames burning through tree canopy
ASSOCIATED PRESS
East Prairie Metis Settlement, Alberta, Canada - 4 July 2023
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7. SOUNDBITE (English) Carrol Johnston, resident:
“He said it was kind of like a fireball that dropped on the house and it just, it just kind of imploded. They couldn’t do nothing except for get the heck out of here because it was just burning so hot and fast. So there went our home. There went everything we owned.”
8. Various aerials of trees scorched by wildfire stand in a burn area
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9. SOUNDBITE (English) Carrol Johnston, resident:
“So it’s sad. But the upside is they’re working on getting us new modular homes. And it’s going to be put right there on top of our old memories.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
East Prairie Metis Settlement, Alberta, Canada - 4 July 2023
10. Various of cars scorched by wildfire
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11. SOUNDBITE (English) Raymond Supernault, Chair of East Prairie Metis Settlement:
“We knew that fire was coming for a week. We knew it was somewhat in control, but not really in control. The other thing was the forestry phoned us, told us ‘evacuate’. So we started getting our members out of East Prairie.”
12. Burned trees seen from road
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Raymond Supernault, Chair of East Prairie Metis Settlement:
“Thank God we didn’t lose anybody. That was a plus.”
STORYLINE:
Song and dance break out as the sun rises at a roadside motel in Fox Creek, Alberta. A group of South African firefighters take a break during their morning meeting to perform a traditional dance before deploying for the day. Several countries, including South Africa, deployed firefighters to Canada to help local efforts to control widespread wildfires.
One of the crew members, Thuto Ganya, said the fires here are partially burning underground.
“We are still acclimatizing with all those diggings because in South Africa we normally find the fires on the ground,” Ganya said.
A couple of hours away in the East Prairie Metis Settlement, Carrol Johnston stands in the foundation where her home stood before a May wildfire destroyed it.
“They couldn’t do nothing except for get the heck out of here because it was just burning so hot and fast. So there went our home. There went everything we owned,” Johnston said.
Johnston, who has been living in a nearby town, is awaiting a modular home so she can return to the land.
“It’s going to be put right there on top of our old memories,” she said with a laugh.
“Thank God we didn’t lose anybody. That was a plus,” Supernault said.
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