A fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta broke out at about 16:00 on Saturday and killed four members of the Canadian military. Wade Rutland said the blaze was 1km away when the wind shifted, then moved a kilometre in 30 to 60 seconds.
Rutland said it is not normal for a fire to move that fast, and Prime Minister Mark Carney called the deaths one of the worst tragedies for the forces on Canadian soil in peacetime. Of the 39 injured people receiving care in hospital, at least 19 were in a critical condition.
Wade Rutland on the wind shift
Rutland said he told reporters, “I spoke to my commander last night, and he said within 30 seconds to a minute they saw no fire, and then there was a fire right on top of them.” He also said, “The fire was 1km (0.6 miles) away when the wind shifted.”
The fire started while members of the infantry were carrying out high-intensity combat training with live munitions at a grenade range and attack range. Officials knew about the fire on the base for several hours before training was stopped.
Canadian Armed Forces response
The Canadian Armed Forces said the incident remains under investigation. Rutland said authorities do not believe it was caused by any oil and gas infrastructure, and officials ruled out terrorist activity.
Warren Thirsk, an emergency department doctor at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, said the number of patients had completely overwhelmed healthcare facilities in Wainwright. The scale of the injuries, along with the speed of the fire, leaves the investigation focused on how the blaze spread so quickly after the wind shifted.
Sonia Monk and Shaun Farrell
Families identified one of the dead as Shaun Farrell. Patricia Farrell said in a Facebook post that it was “with heavy hearts that we share the news that our son, Shaun Farrell, has passed away to be with our Heavenly Father.”
Sonia Monk, the mother of Aidan Goulding, told CBC, “He was always the guy who kept everybody's spirits up” and “He really was the light of my life.” Their words place the death toll in personal terms, even as the question of what exactly ignited the fire remains open.
