Four Canadian service members have died and dozens more were seriously injured after a fire tore through a training exercise at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday.
Carney called it one of the worst peacetime military tragedies to happen on Canadian soil. He said the families of the four who died have been notified, and that the situation on the ground was still evolving as officials worked to understand what happened.
The fire broke out Saturday during a training exercise at the base and quickly grew out of control as strong winds pushed the flames beyond the installation and into surrounding rural land. Gusts reached up to 62 mph as firefighters worked through the night to contain the blaze. Canadian military officials said there was no indication the fire was connected to terrorism, though the cause remains under investigation.
Those hurt and killed included reservists and soldiers from Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, one of Canada’s oldest military regiments. Personnel had traveled from bases across the country to take part in the training exercises at Wainwright.
Defense Minister David McGuinty confirmed fatalities and injuries before a full casualty count was released. “I cannot recall such an incident in my short time for sure as a minister, but I cannot recall an incident like this in recent memory,” McGuinty told reporters.
Hospitals Overwhelmed Across Alberta
The exact number of injured remained unclear as of Sunday, with the wounded receiving treatment at hospitals in Wainwright, Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary. Several hospitals across the province declared a “Code Orange,” the emergency designation used for mass-casualty events, as staff scrambled to treat the influx of patients.
“This number of patients would overwhelm the city of Edmonton,” Dr. Warren Thirsk, an emergency department physician at Royal Alexandra Hospital, told CBC News. “It is more patients than any of us want to count right now. It’s a disaster.”
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said officers responded to reports of a fire in a training area at the base shortly after 4 p.m. Saturday. McGuinty said the RCMP is involved in the investigation, describing the situation as “very, very active and delicate.”
By late Saturday, local officials said the fire was being held and that property and critical infrastructure had been protected. No evacuation order was issued for nearby residents.
Carney announced that flags will fly at half-staff on federal buildings nationwide in honor of those killed and injured, and he praised the emergency crews who fought the fire through the night.
