Fighting fires, dodging death

Although it’s hard and dangerous, several women are in team.

- Masoka Dube

Why would you do a job where something as basic as a change of wind direction could cost you your life? That's a question which goes through my mind as I watch the distant swirling flames and smoke across the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve near Heidelberg and the firefighters from Working on Fire who are out there trying to put out the flames.

Today's team leader 38-year-old William Malebatsa who, like the 25 firefighters on the team, is all too aware of the recent death of six of their comrades from the Working on FireKishugu Joint Venture, who died while trying to quell the deadly inferno that engulfed the Boston area west of Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal.

"As a team leader sometimes it gets hard because if the team members learn about those deaths in KZN. I have to sit down with the members and motivate them and keep their spirits high.

"It is part of my job to ensure the well-being of the members.