Working On Fire
Fisher in Nelspruit

Working on Fire is a South African, government-funded, multi-partner organisation focused on Integrated Fire Management and veld and wild firefighting. Online home of the Working on Fire programme, South Africa.

Working on Fire manages an Integrated Fire Management Programme which includes fire management planning, detection, prevention, suppression, dispatch and coordination and community fire awareness activities. Working on Fire is an Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) aimed at providing work opportunities to young men and women. Participants are recruited from marginalised communities and trained in fire awareness and education, fire prevention and fire suppression skills. In addition they are also trained in skills such as first aid, carpentry, cooking, health and safety and communications. Working on Fire promotes capacity building amongst participants and runs various programmes which helps to develop the social cohesion of these participants. Empowering participants to make informed decisions and also to help them with financial and social related problems makes up a vital part of the programme’s initiatives. The FFA Group of Companies (Today known as the Kishugu Group) was awarded a tender by National Government in 2003 to implement an aerial and ground resource plan for fighting veld fires. This was the first of its kind in South Africa and it took much research, both locally and internationally, to come up with a strategy which could be practically applied in South Africa’s unique landscape. Working on Fire (WOF) is a South African government-funded, multi-partner organisation. The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) provides the main funding and structure for the programme and forms an integral part of the South African Government’s future planning for the custodianship of South Africa’s natural environment. The FFA Group of Companies (now Kishugu) was awarded a tender by National Government in 2003 to implement an aerial and ground resource plan for fighting veld fires. The Programme was initially funded by the government and the commercial forestry sector. Embedded in the Expanded Public Works Programme, the project combined sound land management principles and best practice wildland fire fighting expertise with the need to create jobs and develop skills. Given the impact of annual fires across the country and in the urban areas, there was a need for an agency that could train a fire fighting hand-crew, and where these teams could be based locally but deployed nationally when necessary. The overall strategy was to apply the principles of integrated fire management to reduce the frequency and impact of uncontrolled veld fires. In 2013 Working on Fire (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary company within the Kishugu Group, was awarded the seven year contract to implement the Working on Fire programme on behalf of the Department of Environmental Affairs.