Agencies
A “serious incident” at a military base in western Canada killed and injured multiple people and sparked a huge blaze on Saturday, the government said. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney posted on X that “a serious incident creating a major fire” had occurred at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright military base in western Alberta province. There were “both fatalities and injuries” as a result of the incident, the country’s defence minister, David McGuinty, said at a news conference. Neither offered details on the number of casualties or the nature of the incident. “I’m saddened to share that there have been both fatalities and injuries as a result of an incident on the base,” identified as Wainwright in Alberta, McGuinty said. “We will have more to say in the coming hours and days,” McGuinty said. He did not say how ?many people were killed or injured, or what caused the “tragic” situation at the base in the east-central part of the province, about 210 km (130 miles) east of Edmonton. A major fire was still burning on Saturday evening, he said, adding: “I cannot recall an incident like this in recent memory.” The Canadian military and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are investigating the incident, McGuinty said.
CFB Wainwright had 1,310 military and civilian personnel stationed there as of 2021, according to census data. The town of Wainwright, population about ?6,600, is just north of the base.
The municipality posted on social media that the fire had crossed the base fence into the nearby district, but ?no evacuation orders had been issued.
General Jennie Carignan, the chief of Canada’s Defence Staff, said on social media that the Canadian forces ?are fully engaged with federal, provincial and local authorities.
“Our priority remains the welfare of our members, their families and their community,” she said.