Four Canadian soldiers died and 39 others were hurt, 19 of them critically, after a rapidly spreading blaze engulfed troops during live-fire exercises at a military base in Alberta, authorities reported.
Maj. Gen. Wade Rutland told reporters in Edmonton on Sunday that commanders had been aware of the fire for several hours and judged it contained enough to let the exercises go on. Then the wind abruptly changed direction and pushed the flames toward the soldiers. He said a fire covering a kilometre in just 36 seconds is far from normal. A commander on site told him the troops went from seeing no flames to being surrounded in under a minute.
The fire began Saturday while Charlie Company of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, was in intense combat training. Roughly 84 soldiers were divided between a grenade range and a zone where they rehearsed assaults on mock enemy positions, and the fire tore through the latter. Investigators have not yet established what started the grass fire. Rutland added that the battalion was getting ready for quick-response deployments and a reinforcement mission to Latvia next spring.
The dead were named as Sgt. Morgan Wong of Edmonton, Pvt. Shaun Farrell of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Pvt. Aidan Goulding of North Vancouver, B.C., and Pvt. Hayden Lykkemark of Langley, B.C. All served with the 3rd Battalion, based in Edmonton.
Premier Danielle Smith said 39 people were under medical care, and some had serious burns that may require weeks or months of intensive treatment. Sayeh Zielke, head of Acute Care Alberta, reported that 19 patients were critical, eight were stable and 12 were walking and being treated for lesser injuries. Prime Minister Mark Carney called the event among the worst peacetime losses the Canadian military has suffered at home and ordered flags on federal buildings lowered to half-mast. He said the families of the dead had been informed, and that the casualties included regular force members, reservists and soldiers from bases across the country.
Hospital response
Patients were moved from Wainwright to four hospitals: the University of Alberta Hospital and Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, and Red Deer Regional Hospital. Several hospitals had declared a Code Orange Saturday night to free up staff and beds, and officials have since ended it. The effort drew on 22 ground ambulances, six planes and two helicopters, with help from Saskatchewan. Smith said every patient was accounted for and no one was still waiting for transport.
Wainwright Mayor Bruce Pugh said the town's small hospital was never built for a mass-casualty event but commended the local medical staff. Rutland confirmed that military search-and-rescue technicians parachuted in to bolster the response, and Pugh said flares lit up their red parachutes as they came down shortly before midnight.
Cathy Keane, who is running for mayor in Ontario, said on Facebook that her eldest son was among the critically injured and that she was heading to Alberta to be with him. Opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, whose riding includes the area, visited Wainwright Sunday and said he had heard of people who rushed toward the danger to help others and were now fighting for their lives.
The investigation
Rutland said the fire started in the training area, where several exercises were running, and spread fast in unusually strong winds. Winds had stayed within normal limits for much of Saturday, mostly under 50 km/h, before picking up sharply. He explained that range controllers depend on weather reports when deciding whether training can safely go on. Investigators will look at whether the wind drove the flames at the soldiers or whether the fire crept unnoticed through vegetation before suddenly overtaking them.
The blaze jumped established firebreaks and was brought under control with help from municipal firefighters. The military said there was no sign of terrorism. Rutland said investigators would also consider whether safety rules need changing, and that any necessary updates would be made. A formal board of inquiry usually follows incidents like this, he said, though it will take time to establish what happened. Charlie Company has been pulled from the training area, and the rest of the battalion halted training on Sunday.
The RCMP said it was called shortly after 4 p.m. Saturday about a fire in the base's training area. A windstorm with gusts up to 100 km/h swept much of Alberta that day, knocking down trees, sending signs flying and carrying flames off the base into nearby rural land. By late Saturday, the Municipal District of Wainwright reported the fire was being held and that property and critical infrastructure were safe. No evacuation order was issued.
CFB Wainwright is among Canada's busiest training bases for combat preparation. The fire also disrupted advance voting ahead of Monday's referendum on whether Alberta should start a process that could lead to leaving Canada. Elections Alberta said the advance polling site at the Wainwright Communiplex closed early on Saturday and that election materials were moved securely.