Four Canadian service members were killed and dozens more injured in a fire that broke out Saturday at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta, Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a televised address Sunday. The service members were participating in military training when the fire occurred, Carney said, and the families of those killed have been notified.
The Canadian military said Sunday there were no indications the incident was the result of terrorism, but the cause remained under investigation. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said officers were called shortly after 4 p.m. Saturday following reports of a fire in a training area at the base.
Fire crews battled the blaze late Saturday as fierce winds — with gusts up to 100 kph (62 mph) — whipped flames beyond the base and into the surrounding rural area. By 11 p.m., the Municipal District of Wainwright said on social media the fire was being held and that property and critical infrastructure were protected. No evacuation order was issued for residents.
The exact number of injured was not immediately clear. Carney said the wounded were being treated in Wainwright, Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary. A doctor at a hospital in Edmonton, 180 kilometers (112 miles) northwest of the base, said patients were taken to hospitals across the city as healthcare facilities around the base became “completely overwhelmed.”
“This number of patients would overwhelm the city of Edmonton,” Dr. Warren Thirsk, an emergency department physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, told CBC News. “It is more patients than any of us want to count right now. It’s a disaster. It’s a one in every 15- to 25-year disaster.”
Wainwright Mayor Bruce Pugh said the town’s small hospital was not designed to handle a mass-casualty incident but praised the response of local medical personnel. Helicopters and planes transported patients to other facilities for treatment, he said.
Defense Minister David McGuinty said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were involved in investigating the incident and described the situation as “very, very active and delicate.” He said he was traveling to Edmonton to be briefed on the latest developments.
“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 said. “We will have more to say in the coming hours and days.”
Flags will fly at half-staff on federal buildings across the country in honor of those affected, Carney said. The base is home to the Canadian Maneuver Training Center and the 3rd Canadian Division Training Centre.
Sources: DVIDS News · DVIDS News