Four soldiers killed, 39 injured in fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta

Four Canadian Armed Forces members were killed and 39 people were injured in a fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta on Saturday, October 17, according to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, as reported by Mathrubhumi. Early reports on Saturday evening gave no figures.

What officials said on Saturday

Defence Minister David McGuinty said on Saturday that there were "both fatalities and injuries" after an incident on the base, but gave no numbers and no cause, according to Reuters as carried by Ada Derana. He said the fire was still burning that evening and that he could not recall a similar incident in recent memory. The military and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are investigating, he said. Carney wrote on social media that a serious incident creating a major fire had occurred at the base and that Ottawa was working with Alberta and local authorities (AP, via Telangana Today). Premier Smith called the fire significant and tragic.

The base lies near the town of Wainwright, roughly 180 to 210 km southeast or east of Edmonton depending on the report. The Canadian Armed Forces said the fire was first reported around 4 p.m. local time on a training range and spread beyond the training area, Anadolu Agency reported via The Express Tribune. The Municipal District of Wainwright said strong winds carried the fire past the base boundary and that no evacuation orders had been issued.

Casualties

Carney confirmed four service members died and their families had been notified, according to Mathrubhumi. Smith said 39 people were admitted to four regional hospitals: 19 critically injured, 8 stable and 12 able to walk, with some patients having severe burns. A doctor at an Edmonton hospital told CBC that Wainwright's health facilities were completely overwhelmed. Pratidin Time, citing CBC, says the dead served with the 3rd Battalion of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Carney described the event as one of the worst tragedies the armed forces have faced on Canadian soil in peacetime, and flags on federal buildings were lowered.

Cause and conditions

Maj. Gen. Wade Rutland, commander of the 1st Canadian Division, said the fire began during a high-intensity combat training exercise involving live munitions, according to CBC as cited by Pratidin Time. He said the exact cause is not known and investigators will look at whether training activity or something else started it: "it could have been any of that or none of it." He said a full investigation would take at least a month.

Rutland said winds pushed the fire about one kilometer in under a minute, which he called uncommon. He said gusts stayed under 50 km/h for much of the day. CBC reports that Environment Canada had forecast gusts up to 90 km/h and that a cold front passed Wainwright between 3 and 4 p.m., with winds reaching 69 km/h by 4 p.m. Rutland said range control had known of the fire for several hours and that training continued until it reached the exercise area; he relayed a commander's account that personnel saw no fire and then found it on top of them within a minute. Rutland said there was no indication that oil and gas infrastructure was hit. The Department of National Defence told CBC there were no indications of terrorist activity.

Mathrubhumi reports that an advance voting station in Wainwright closed ahead of Monday's provincial vote on Alberta independence.