Almost 300 South African firefighters arrived in Edmonton, Alberta, in western Canada on Sunday night, heading to help battle the massive fires spreading across the province – and their first reaction was to immediately burst proudly into song.

The 281 firefighters, who have helped out in Canada before, will join a team from Canada and the United States. One of the firefighters told a local paper that singing together helped the team bond.

Watch the firefighters sing and dance here:

Apparently a man who worked in Anzac, a town once evacuated by the fire, personally thanked each one of the South Africans, men and women, as they walked through the arrival gates.





“Welcome to Canada, thank you so much,” he was quoted saying.

Many of the SA firefighters come through the “Working On Fire” programme implemented more than a decade ago to give young people a job, and pull them out of poverty. Apparently some 2,300 firefighters are at present battling the ongoing blaze.

“@ewnreporter: #Canada, #FireFighters On board are 38 from GP, 39 EC, 33 FS, 29 KZN, 47 Limp, 43 NW, 51 MP, 21 WC. pic.twitter.com/Fb9KaqoZ2I“ — Les Mntambo #EndRape (@lesleyMntambo) May 29, 2016



