Canada’s top military commander has committed to publicly releasing findings from the investigation into the Oct. 17 fire at CFB Wainwright in Alberta that killed four soldiers and injured 39 others, including 19 critically.
Gen. Jennie Carignan, chief of the defence staff, said Monday that the military will hold a board of inquiry (BOI), a technical investigation, and a civilian coroner’s investigation by Alberta. She was speaking on CBC’s Power & Politics in her first interview since the fire swept through a training area at the base.
“I want to make sure that we also make the findings public once the board of inquiry is completed,” Carignan said. She said she was drafting the terms of reference for the BOI but could not say when it will convene.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said 50 investigators are on the ground as the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service, with support from the RCMP, leads a “complete investigation.” The RCMP have also been asked to assist Alberta’s medical examiner.
The fire broke out at about 4 p.m. Saturday while soldiers were training. Maj.-Gen. Wade Rutland, commander of the 1st Canadian Division, said a fire broke out during a high-intensity combat training exercise using live munitions. Soldiers were throwing hand grenades on a grenade range and conducting a “section attack” involving 10 soldiers at a separate range.
Rutland said heavy wind gusts spread the blaze by a kilometre in less than a minute. He said conditions for most of the day were “within standard procedures to conduct training exercises” with wind gusts below 50 km/h. Environment and Climate Change Canada had issued a wind warning for large parts of Alberta predicting gusts up to 90 km/h.
The four soldiers killed were identified as: Sgt. Morgan Wong of Edmonton; Pte. Shaun Farrell of Prince Albert, Sask.; Pte. Aidan Goulding of North Vancouver; and Pte. Hayden Lykkemark of Langley, B.C. Wong was from the Loyal Edmonton Regiment serving with the 3rd Battalion of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI); the others were from the 3rd Battalion of PPCLI.
There were tributes in the House of Commons to soldiers from C Company, 3rd Battalion PPCLI who were using the Wainwright training range to prepare for deployment to Latvia. The military said the brush fire was already burning when a sudden change in the wind drove it toward roughly 84 troops who were practising hand grenade throwing and small group attacks at one portion of the exercise field. Carignan said it is normal to continue training with a brush fire nearby because it adds realism, but safety is paramount.
“The folks on the ground make a determination on how this could affect training, and mitigation measures are put in place,” she said. “To address this, we also have firefighting equipment or support on site to respond to potential fires.”
The military is under no obligation to release BOI findings. A board normally reports to the defence chief and minister. Retired colonel Rory Fowler, a former military lawyer, said BOIs are not designed to assign fault.
“BOIs are not supposed to investigate wrongdoing,” Fowler said. He noted the regulation was amended over 10 years ago to remove a directive that a BOI identify fault.
Rutland said he expects the full investigation to take at least a month. Carney said the military will receive “all the resources they need” and will get answers “as expeditiously and transparently as necessary.”
Sources: Canada DND Newsroom · CBC Politics